The Last Dead: Around Every Corner
by o0oWoLfwrIT3ro0o
Summary: Upon arriving in the city of Savannah, Lee and Joel struggle to lead their group and keep them all safe. As the survivors become more paranoid and when no part of the city is safe, can they protect Clementine and Ellie from the dangers lurking around every corner?
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Savannah

**PREVIOUSLY ON THE LAST DEAD**

Joel: "Ah shit, it's a goddamn raid! GET DOWN!"

Kenny: "We gotta get outta here!"

* * *

Lee: "You're not coming with us."

Lilly: "I'll die out here!"

Lee: "I don't care."

Kenny: "You tried to murder Carley, Lilly, and you damn near ended up killing Joel instead! We can't have you with us!"

* * *

Joel: "This here is Chuck. He's, uh, a friendly."

Chuck: "Howdy."

* * *

Katjaa: "Joel… Will you promise me that you won't ever abandon us?"

Joel: "Yes Ma'am."

Katjaa: "Thank you."

* * *

Kenny: "Kat, no… why, Katjaa? Why would you… oh, fuck!"

Joel: "Did she just…"

Lee: "Oh, my God."

* * *

Chuck: "What I'm trying to say is that there ain't nothing wrong with you two being protective of them and all, but y'all can't go around sheltering them forever. You both need to help them learn how to get used to being on their own and having to figure things out by themselves."

* * *

Joel: "Everyone, these two are Omid and Christa."

Omid: "Not big on welcomes, I guess?"

Joel: "Yeah, well, like Lee said, we've all had a bit of a day."

* * *

Stranger: "Can't wait until you get here to Savannah, Clementine. I got your parents right here, and you be sure to find me whether Lee wants you to or not. Now, what I need-"

Lee: "This guy, whoever he is, if he's convinced Clementine that he's got her parents, then-"

Joel: "This is exactly what I'm talking about here."

* * *

Joel: "It ain't walkers that are waiting for us at the end of the tracks."

Ellie: "What are we going to do?"

Lee: "You two go ahead and let the others know what's happening. As soon as we get close enough, I'll stop the train and then we gotta be ready for them."

 **A/N** ** ** **The story progresses based on the choices that I have made in the game and how I think Joel and Ellie would fit into the story of The Walking Dead Game. The Macon survivors finally arrived in Savannah, but the welcoming committee isn't as friendly as would would've hoped.**** Be sure to let me know what you think of this crossover. I do not own The Walking Dead or The Last of Us.**

xXxWoLfwrIT3rxXx presents

A crossover event

Chapter 1: Welcome to Savannah

The moon was shining throughout the night sky as five shady-looking men had approached an old locomotive that suddenly came to a stop in the middle of the tracks. The man that was leading the small group had a 9mm pistol in his hand and was wearing a denim vest with the word "hunter" stitched on the back, which is what these men always referred themselves as nowadays; Hunters. The other four men were armed with a knife, a baseball bat, a lead pipe and a hammer. As they were closing the distance, they slowed their pace and began creeping up on the thing and had their weapons ready, waiting for someone, or something, to show themselves, not caring if they were looking for help or otherwise. Just then, they hear the sound of a guitar playing and looked at each other for a moment in confusion. Still, they pressed on. Two of them climbed up to the cab while the other three moved up to the boxcar. The leader was the first to climb inside it, and found an old man inside with his guitar, sitting up against the wall and casually greets him.

Chuck: "Well, howdy there, stranger."

The hunter was taken aback at what was around him and scoffed.

Hunter: "Wha- are you serious? This some kinda joke?"

Chuck: "Haven't told one yet, but I can, if you're looking for a good laugh."

Hunter: "Hey, don't get smart with me, old man."

He tells the other two men to stand guard near the door behind him and starts searching through the hobo's property.

Hunter: "You got anything good in all this shit?"

Chuck didn't respond. Instead, he just kept on playing the guitar as if nothing bad was happening.

Hunter: "Hey, I'm talking to you. Come on, let's have it. What you got? And don't lie to me, or I'll pop a bullet in you."

Chuck: "Everything you see is what you get, I'm afraid."

Hunter: "Are you fucking kidding me? How did you even make it this far? More importantly, why the fuck _are_ you doing here in the first place? And inside a train?"

Chuck: "No reason really. Just traveling down the road and thought I'd make a lil detour here to see if there's anything interesting to see."

Hunter: "Yeah? Well I got news for you, gramps. This city ain't no place for tourists anymore. So, you'd best hand over all the goods you're hiding and turn this piece of shit around."

Unbeknownst to him or the other hunters, there was another group of people hiding from them; hiding and waiting. Waiting for the right moment to strike. Lee was hiding behind the boxcar with his axe held tightly in his hands. Joel was sneaking along side of the locomotive towards the cab, ready to draw his revolver. Kenny had climbed up front and was crouched in front of the door with a monkey wrench he got from the train. Lee had heard every word of the conversation Chuck was having, and decided that now was the time to make their move. He takes out the flashlight from his backpack strap, aims it forward and turns it on and off several times before placing it back. One of the hunters noticed this, notifies the others before he began to cautiously approach the corner of the boxcar.

Hunter: "Have you got any people with ya?"

Chuck: "Nope. It's just me and this train, I'm afraid. I've been out on my own for at least, oh… fourteen years now."

Irritated by his calm behavior, he snatches the guitar out of Chuck's hands, tossed it aside and aims his gun at his head.

Hunter: "I didn't ask about your life story, smartass. I warned you about lying to me, didn't I? There better not be anyone else out there."

As he continues ranting his threats, the bat-wielding hunter was nearing the corner of the boxcar with his buddy that was holding a knife not far behind him. But then, just as he had turned to face him, a gunshot goes off from a distance and a bullet penetrates his skull as he had been shot right between the eyes, causing him to drop his knife and fall face first to the ground. Just then, Lee had jumped out when the man had turned around and grabs him by bringing his axe around his neck and pulls him backwards. In the midst of the struggle, he had dropped the bat. Lee forces him to the ground, raises his axe over his head and swings it onto his head. His leader inside the boxcar hears the commotion and panics.

Hunter: "What the fuck?!"

Chuck took advantage of the distraction by reaching for his shovel and swings at the man's hand to knock the weapon out of his hand, disarming him and prepares to swing again. Meanwhile, Kenny and Joel had made their moves; Kenny opened the door to yank out one hunter from the front of the cab and Joel comes in from the back to grab the other. Once the hunter landed on the dirt, he looks up to see the man with a ballcap and mustache jump down and lands on him, knocking the wind out of him. Kenny then lifted up the wrench in his hand and swings directly at his face just as Joel had thrown the guy he grabbed over the railing and leaps over. Chuck had swung his shovel one more time to push back the guy that had been aggressive towards him the whole time and intensely glares at him. His tone was calm, but hostile when he tells him,

Chuck: "Get outta my train."

One swift kick from his boot and the hunter falls flat on his back from the boxcar. While struggling to get up, he spots one of his guys getting pulled to the front of the locomotive by some other old guy aiming a gun to his head. He gets back up and runs after him. But the second he came up to the cowcatcher, he was instantly shot in the foot and dropped to the dirt.

Hunter: "AAAHH! Ow! Shit!"

He looks up and sees Joel aiming at his revolver him before noticing Kenny walked up beside him. Setting his weapon back into the holster, Joel had pulled out a molotov and his zippo lighter. Just then, the man on the ground hears footsteps and turns to see more people approaching; Carley was the first to appear with Kenny's rifle and gives it back as she tossed it into his hands. Christa and Omid also came around the corner with Ben close by. Clementine was holding onto Lee's hand as she walked beside him, along with Ellie and Chuck. Ellie looked at the lit molotov in Joel's hand and dreaded for what he planned to do it, especially when he didn't give her a straight answer about it earlier.

Lee: "Thanks for keeping them occupied for us, Chuck."

Chuck: "Don't mention it. It _was_ all part of the plan y'all came up with after all. Also, it was a boring conversation anyways."

Hunter: "You… You all planned for this?!"

Joel: "We saw you and your buddies coming from the city. Maybe next time, you outta work on how to not make it obvious that you were all planning to kill us."

Lee: "What is it you want from us?"

Hunter: "Agh, everything that you assholes got. None of you got no business here."

Just then, he turns his attention to the little girls in the group.

Hunter: "Heh, well, looky there. You got little girlies with ya, too. Dragging them to an early grave, are ya?"

Lee: "Don't fucking talk to em like that."

Hunter: "And what if I do, huh?"

He was answered with a hard punch to his face by Joel and groans in pain.

Joel: "How many more of you are out there?"

Hunter: "Ah, what?"

Kenny: "You heard what he said, asswipe. How many more fuckers have you got in that city?"

The wounded man spits blood at Joel's boot before he answers.

Hunter: "Enough to make each and every one of you wish that you never came into our city to begin with."

Carley: " _Your_ city?"

Hunter: "That's right. Ugh, we own it now. And we sure as shit ain't gonna let the likes of you shitheads fuck up everything we've built up till now. Should've stayed at home from wherever the fuck you came from. Rgh. You go in there, and they ain't gonna let none of you walk outta there alive. The boss will make sure of it."

Kenny: "You sound pretty cocky, for a guy with a bullet in his foot. And guess what? We don't give a shit who your boss is, or how many more of your posse are in that city. We got business to take care of in Savannah, and we ain't leaving till we get what we want from it."

Hunter: "Fuck you. You're gonna get it!"

He springs back to his feet and limps away from the people that killed his men.

Hunter: "You're all gonna get it! You hear me?! All of you fuckers are dead!"

As soon as he took off down the tracks, Joel ran a few steps after him and tosses the lit molotov directly at the fleeing man. Upon impact on the man's back, the bottle immediately bursts into flames and sets him on fire. He drops to the ground and starts rolling, screaming, desperate to put out the flames on his body, but to no avail. Most of the group had watched in disbelief while Clementine had buried her face in Lee's leg and cover her ears to block out the screams. Ellie had approached beside her caretaker as she continued watching the man die.

Ellie: "Holy shit, Joel. Did you… really have to do that? I mean, that just seems like overkill to me."

He looks down at her while trying to think of how to respond. He knew deep in his gut that the guy would've alerted the other people he's got with him if he had let him go, and he wouldn't take that risk. Still, he only shakes his head and starts walking.

Joel: "Let's just get moving."

She didn't like that answer and wished that he had given her a better. Once she saw that the man on the ground stopped moving and Kenny had walked ahead of her, she follows after them. Carley took a few steps forward and looks back.

Carley: "Come on, guys. We shouldn't stay here."

The rest of the group agree and started moving. But then, Clem had tugged on Lee's hand and they both stopped walking.

Clementine: "Lee, can I have my walkie-talkie back, please?"

The man looks down at his girl's radio that he had secured to his waistband and frowns when he answered.

Lee: "No, Clem. I'm gonna be holding onto this from now on."

Clementine: "Why?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he continues staring at her with the same look on his face as a response. And with that look, she instantly knew the reason why and frowns as well; he knows that the walkie-talkie really isn't broken. And so, after passing by the burnt man, the two of them catch up with the group and prepare to enter the city that appeared to be filled with more danger than they've anticipated.

 **THE LAST DEAD**

 **EPISODE FOUR: AROUND EVERY CORNER**

The plan was to get through Savannah without making a sound or being seen, and make it to the river. Everyone was armed with their guns and melee weapons. They walked through the streets and retained on using their flashlights so they wouldn't let anyone know they're here. As they ventured through the city, they noticed how there were marks on most of the doors on the buildings they passed and the streets were littered with stripped vehicles and almost no dead bodies to be found. Realizing this, Ben felt nervous and had surveyed the street while holding onto the spanner he was given since he wasn't the best at firearms and had something to defend himself with.

Ben: "I-I, um, don't see any more of those guys. Do you see them?"

Carley: "Not yet. They must be hiding somewhere, waiting to ambush us again. So, keep an eye out for anything peculiar."

Ben: "O-okay."

Since Clementine was the only one that didn't have a weapon, she remained by Lee's side and was starting to wish that she did, just like him, Ellie and everyone else. She stared at the radio again before hesitantly asking,

Clementine: "Can't I just hold it?"

Lee didn't respond to her. Instead, he gave her a sad look for a moment and faces forward before she tried again.

Clementine: "Just for a little while? We're getting close to where my mom and dad are. Maybe I can-"

Lee: "Not right now, Clementine. Ask me again in a little while, okay?"

Clementine: "Okay…"

Ellie had looked back to see her friend upset and frowns. Clem was probably feeling bad about her, Lee and Joel finding out her secret the way they did. Why she would keep it a secret was beyond them. No doubt Lee would soon ask her who that was on the other end, but for now, they would have to keep moving. She looks down at the switchblade in her hand; the sharp knife already flicked out and tightens her grip on it. Carley observed Omid briefly using the lead pipe he had as a support to walk due to his leg being injured from jumping on the train.

Carley: "Christa, how's Omid holding up?"

Christa: "His leg's pretty bad."

Omid: "I'm right here, you know. I'm fine, okay?"

Christa "No, it's not okay, and you're _not_ fine. You need to rest. He needs to rest."

Her last comment was directed towards Lee, hoping that maybe he could talk some sense into Omid about how critical his condition is. But instead, Joel was the first to speak up.

Joel: "He's a grown man, Christa. He doesn't need you to babysit him the whole time. If his leg starts giving him too much trouble, he'll let us know. And besides that, we're all too out in the open to stop now."

Christa: "I don't know how much longer he can keep on like this. If his leg gets any worse, we're going to have to carry him."

Kenny: "Or leave him."

Christa: "What?!"

Ellie: "Kenny!"

Christa: "No, that's not an option! We are _not_ going to-"

Kenny: "Lady, I've only known you for a few hours as of now, and you don't get to say _we_ unless you're only referring to you and you're boyfriend slowing _us_ down."

Omid: "Again, I'm still here, hearing everything you guys say…"

Christa: "You know what? Since this whole thing started, I've seen the best come out of certain people, and the worst come out of all the others. I guess we know which end you came down on."

Kenny: "There you go again; _we_. There is no _we_. There's just-"

Joel: "Hey! Shut up. The both of you. Any louder and you'll wake up the neighborhood."

They didn't say another word. Instead, they give each other a glare and faced forward as they continued walking. That is, until the sound of a church bell stopped them in their tracks.

Ben: "What the hell?"

Joel: "Oh, son of a bitch…"

Everyone eyed the tower of the church bell. The noise it was making was bound to lure in walkers like a fish to water.

Carley: "Looks like we just walked right into another ambush."

Kenny: "Keep moving. We ain't being ambushed and nobody's ringing that bell. It's automatic; on a timer."

Lee had looked at the watch he had been wearing on his wrist, and the time didn't seem right for the bell to be ringing.

Lee: "What kind of church bell goes off at twenty past midnight?"

Ellie: "I'm gonna take a guess and say none."

Chuck: "That'd be a good guess."

When Lee had looked up at the bell tower again, he was able to catch sight of some shadows coming down from the building.

Lee: "He-hey! There's someone up there!"

Carley: "Where?"

Lee: "There, at the bell tower."

The whole group had looked to find what Lee saw, but they were already gone.

Ben: "Are you sure? I don't see anything."

Lee: "Yes, I'm sure. I know what I saw. I'm telling you, there's somebody up in that bell tower; someone alive!"

Ellie: "You think it's more of those guys we saw earlier?"

Joel: "Maybe. Just stay close and keep an eye out."

But then, the static from Clem's radio gained the group's attention as the stranger on the other end was calling them.

Kenny: "The fuck?"

Stranger: "If I were you people, I'd get out of these streets. Now."

Lee had removed it from his waistband and holds it in his hand.

Christa: "I thought you said that thing was busted?!"

Joel: "Now is not the time, Christa."

With a nod from Joel, Lee holds down the button and responds.

Lee: "Who the hell is this?"

He didn't answer back. There was nothing but static now, which irritated Lee.

Lee: "Hey, answer me, dammit! I know you're there! Hello? Hello?! I said, answer me."

He still didn't respond as the group looked around for anybody that might be close by and watching them. The bell continued its loud ringing.

Omid: "Well, that was weird. Just what the hell was that all about? Was he warning us or just fucking with us?"

Joel: "I don't like this…"

Up ahead on the street, they saw more hunters with flashlights and weapons heading their way while repeatedly shouting the word, "bell ringers". Lee figured that they thought their group were the ones ringing that bell and realized that they had been caught in a trap.

Ellie: "Oh crap!"

Ben: "This is bad…"

Kenny: "Give me a fucking break here!"

Thinking fast, Lee had looked around and saw some debris across the street on the right.

Lee: "This way, hurry! Everybody, hide!"

He runs down the road and the others follow suit. They had to work fast at finding a place to hide before the armed men reach them. Lee had vaulted over an old car and crouched down with Clementine and Carley soon joining him. Christa had lead Omid to a bush by the sidewalk while Chuck grabbed Ben to hide in a spot between two buildings. Joel and Ellie had ran over to a van flipped on its side and took cover behind it with Kenny. A moment later, Lee had peeked over the car to see the hunters come around the corner and shine their lights down the road as they slowly closed in on them.

Lee: "They're gonna be on us soon."

Clementine: "I… I'm scared."

Carley: "You'll be okay, Clem. No whatever happens, we won't let them get you, or Ellie. Okay?"

The girl nods nervously, but they weren't the only thing to worry about. Joel noticed that the bell had ceased its ringing but also heard the sound of walkers nearby, but couldn't see where they are.

Ellie: "Joel, what do we do?"

Joel: "I got this."

Truth be told, he didn't have any plan. But they had to do something fast, or else this was going to end very badly. He had peek around the side in time to see a hunter shine his torch at a window that had plenty of walkers on the inside. But he knew there were more of them on the streets outside. Checking for something useful, he spots a brick near him on the ground. A plan had quickly formed together in his mind. Picking up the brick, he looked over at Lee and nods his head, letting him know that he was about to make his move. Joel shifts over to get a good view of the window while trying not get caught in the spotlight and eventually tosses the brick. The glass had broken to pieces while one walker was struck in the face and the hunters were startled.

Hunter 1: "Jesus! Who did that?!"

When they shined their flashlights directly at where the noise came from, they saw a room full of the undead through the broken window.

Hunter 2: "Shit, lurkers! Get the window shut!"

While the hunters were distracted, Joel looked behind him and saw a herd of walkers coming from behind. Knowing he had to move fast, he draws his revolver, runs over to one of the hunters and pistol whips him in the face. He then grabs him, puts him in a chokehold and presses the barrel of his gun on the side of his head as he slowly moved backwards with his hostage. The other hunters catch sight of what he was doing and aim their shotgun and rifle at him.

Hunter 1: "Oh, fuck! Let him go!"

Hunter 2: "Put him down, asshole!"

They continued ranting their threats, but Joel wouldn't release the hunter in his grasp just yet. No matter how much he struggled, he just couldn't break free. They both continued moving backwards toward the approaching herd. Once they were both close enough, Joel had suddenly shoved the hunter at the walkers and ran back to Ellie and Kenny behind the wrecked car to avoid the gunfire while the hunter was being torn apart and eaten alive.

Ellie: "Oh, my God!"

Joel: "Keep your head down!"

Knowing that they can't stay in their hiding spots any longer, Lee and Carley had fired their guns at walkers that were getting a little too close and he exclaimed,

Lee: "RUN!"

Kenny had aimed his rifle at a hunter and shoots him in the head. Chuck had swung his shovel at a walker to smack it down while Ben had took off running. Christa helped Omid stand on his feet before she fired her pistol at another walker next to Chuck. They had to hurry and get out of the street before they got overwhelmed. Joel had fired another bullet and continued to follow Kenny. But then, a hunter tackled him to the ground, causing him to lose his gun. The hunter then pulls out his knife and attempts to stab the man in the eye with it, but Joel grabs his wrist with both of his hands and pushes back. He glanced at where his weapon was, but he couldn't reach for it. They had both struggled with the knife for a moment before Ellie suddenly stabbed Joel's attacker with her switchblade. He retaliates by shoving her back with his elbow. Joel took the opportunity to kick the hunter off of him so he can reach for his revolver and shot him in the head.

After getting back on his feet, he checks to make sure Ellie was okay and quickly reloads. But then, he looked around to see that the group was in trouble; on the right, Lee was firing his gun at walkers that were preventing from reaching Clementine and Chuck, who was also struggling to keep the walkers back while Kenny was fighting a hunter with his rifle. At the same time on the left, Carley was also picking off walkers that were closing in. Christa was busy protecting Omid while Ben had lost his wrench and was too terrified to do anything. Both sides needed assistance, but Joel could only get to one of them. Ellie looked at him with anxiety until he runs towards Kenny and follows after him. Joel takes his machete out and slashes the hunter in the head to save his comrade. He and Kenny then rush over to assist Lee with the walkers. Ellie had looked ahead and saw one walker lurking behind her friend and shouts,

Ellie: "Clementine, behind you!"

She turns around to see the approaching monster and panics.

Clementine: "Ah!"

Lee: "NO!"

As they hurried over to the little girl's aid, Chuck had suddenly attacked the walker from behind to bring down the walker with his shovel and then jams it in its back to hold it down long enough for her to run towards Lee and embraced him. Joel had finished off the monster Chuck had pinned down with his machete, and when he heard Carley yelling for them, he made sure Ellie was next to him before hurrying over. But then, their path was blocked by the herd. They could see Carley fending off the walkers away from the other survivors.

Kenny: "Oh, fuck me! There's too many for us to get through!"

Carley: "Lee! I can't keep this up forever!"

This entire situation had completely gone from bad to worse. Lee had looked around to see they were about to be overwhelmed soon and realized that there was no other choice; they would have to split up for now.

Lee: "Get out of these streets and find someplace safe! We'll meet up with y'all as soon as we can!"

Carley eventually nods at him as she lowers her gun and makes a run for it with Ben, Omid and Christa. As soon as they were gone, Lee, Joel, Kenny and the little girls run in the opposite direction down the street, avoiding the corpses that tried to grapple them. But, Joel had stopped when he saw that Chuck was still fighting them off.

Joel: "Chuck, what're you waiting for?!"

Chuck: "You get em the hell outta dodge! I'll catch up with ya!"

Joel had responded with a frown, not understanding why he wouldn't hurry over to them. He then flinches when he saw another walker up close to his face, but was shot in the head by Kenny.

Kenny: "Joel, there's no time! We gotta go, now!"

With one last glance at the hobo, Joel had caught up to his group and they had managed to evacuate the streets. Without Chuck.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **A/N Yes, it has been awhile, I know. Once again, I apologize for the delay. At this point, I imagine it's becoming tiresome. Too much of life has been getting in the way of the progress in my writing. But** **even though I can't make any promises,** **I'm still going to keep doing my best with continuing my stories. I hope you liked the twists I've added in this chapter and I really hope that I did not lower anyone's expectations due to the delay. Also, keep in eye out for another character from The Last of Us.  
**


	2. Chapter 2: The Manor

**A/N After narrowly escaping the hunters and herd of walkers, the survivors regroup and find themselves a new shelter.** **Be sure to let me know what you think of this crossover. I do not own The Walking Dead or The Last of Us.**

Chapter 2: The Manor

It had been a few minutes since the survivors had separated to escape the herd, and now an eerie fog had lifted in the streets of Savannah. Joel had peeked out from a corner to look for any more threats lurking around and his crew right beside him. After a moment, he checks in on them.

Joel: "Looks like we're in the clear for now. Ellie, you good?"

Ellie: "Other than shitting my pants back there? I'm fine."

Kenny lets out a scoff at her response and shook his head, not knowing if she was serious or not.

Lee: "What about you, Clementine? Are you okay?"

Clementine: "Uh-huh. I just hope we find everyone soon and that they're okay."

Lee: "Me too, sweet pea."

Joel: "Let's move."

They all moved to the road and switched on their flashlights to be able to see through the fog. They had to regroup with Carley, Ben, Omid and Christa, and figure out their next move.

Kenny: "Man, and here I thought that Macon was bad. I mean, the walkers are one thing, but now a buncha assholes hiding out here in Savannah? It was bad enough when we had to put up with them bandits hiding in the woods back at that fucking Motor inn."

Joel: "We can handle them."

Kenny was skeptical with his answer and had raised an eyebrow at him.

Kenny: "You sure about that? We tried to 'handle them' back there and that all went to shit real fast."

Lee: "All the more reason why we'll have to be more careful with how we get through this city from now on."

Kenny: "Yeah, well, this fucking fog ain't exactly doing us any favors on that at the moment."

He was also thinking about how those hostile men could've gotten to the boats before them. As far as he was concerned, getting a boat was the only plan they had, and they would have to get to the river as soon as possible so that they could take one by force if they had to. Then, he thought about the man that called them on Clementine's radio.

Kenny: "So, what's the deal with that walkie-talkie, anyway? Didn't y'all mention back in Macon that it got broken or somethin'?"

Clementine had looked down with a frown as she was reminded again with how she had lied to her friends. Lee noticed this and responds,

Lee: "That's what we all thought, too. But, now is still not the time for that right now. We can talk about it after we find Carley and the others."

Kenny had nodded his head in agreement while Clem felt nervous with how Lee was going to talk about it with her. Ellie had looked behind to see anyone or anything was following them, but nothing was there. There was also a part of her that was hoping to see the hobo come running up behind them at any moment.

Ellie: "I really hope Chuck will be okay. I just don't get it. Why wouldn't he come with us and get away from the herd?"

Joel: "If I had to guess, I'd say it was to buy us enough time so we can get away."

Ellie: "Maybe, but there was way too many for him to just take on all by himself."

Joel: "Ain't nothing we can do about it now, Ellie. We either find him out here, or he'll find his way back to us, or…"

He didn't dare finish his sentence. He saw the look on his girl's when she knew what he was about to say. She didn't want to think about that; they already lost too many people in their group. But then, they hear the sound of footsteps approaching around the corner and switched their torches off as they quietly moved over to the corner of a building, guns drawn and ready to fire. The men waited until it got closer, and closer. Once it was close enough, they ran out and aimed their weapons at whoever was approaching and almost fired them until they realized that it was Carley, who was also aiming her gun at them, and then they let out sighs of relief and lowered their weapons.

Kenny: "What the fuck."

Carley: "Jesus. For a second there, I thought you were all somebody else."

Joel: "Good thing we ain't then."

Ellie: "Obviously."

Lee was more happy and relieved than the others to see her again as he approached the short woman to give her a hug, and she returns it. A moment later, they broke the hug and held each other in their arms with a smile.

Lee: "I'm glad to see you're okay."

Carley: "Me too."

Joel: "Where's everyone else?"

Carley: "They're okay; we actually found a house where it might be safe enough for all of us to hunker down in, but Omid re-opened up his wound as soon as we got there. Christa's doing what she can with it and I left Ben to get the door open while I came out here looking for you guys."

Kenny: "You really think that was the best thing to do?"

The reporter had glared at Kenny for belittling Ben. Even though most of the group didn't think so highly of him, she wanted to at least give him a chance and knew there was no other choice before she had headed out to search for the rest of her crew.

Carley: "…Anyway, where's Chuck? Wasn't he with you guys?"

Lee: "He was. But, we got separated from him as well. But, he'll be fine."

Carley: "Are you sure?"

Lee: "Yeah. He can handle himself, and he knows what he's doing."

Ellie: "I hope so…"

Joel: "We shouldn't stay here for much longer. Where's this place that you found?"

Carley: "It's down this street. Follow me."

They had switched their flashlights back on and began following the reporter through the fog.

* * *

A few minutes later, Carley had led them through a narrow walkway leading to a backyard and pushed open a creaky gate. The first thing they saw was Omid sitting on the grass while his girlfriend was trying to keep his wound leaking out anymore blood.

Omid: "Oh crap, you found em! Way to go, Carley."

Carley had smiled in response to his praise. Joel had closed the gate behind him while Lee, Clementine and Ellie had checked in on their injured friend.

Ellie: "Am man, are you all right, Omid?"

Omid: "Yeah. Yeah, don't worry. I'm good."

Christa: "No, you're not. You've opened up your wound, you're bleeding, and God only knows what might've gotten into it after you fell. It's going to get infected and then it-"

Omid: "Hey, hun, no offense, but you suck when it comes to providing some reassurances."

Clementine: "You'll be okay. Won't he, Lee?"

Lee: "Yeah, he will. She's just worried about you, man. Once we get inside that house, we'll get you patched up as soon as we can."

Omid: "Thanks, guys. Here's hoping."

Christa: "We need to hurry and get him inside. Those walkers can smell blood, ya know."

Joel was taking a look at the place that they have come across; a manor. He noticed all the windows, except the ones on the second floor, were boarded up. Even though it seems safe based on the outside, he suspected that there might someone or something hiding in the inside. This manor could give them the break they need from everything out in the streets. All they had to do was figure out how to get in it. Ben was standing in front of the back door while Carley had approached him.

Carley: "Ben. Any luck getting us inside?"

When he had turned to show the sheepish look on his face and nervously scratched the back of his head, Kenny already knew what the answer was as he narrowed his eyes, folded his arms against his chest and shook his head in annoyance.

Ben: "Not really. Sorry. All the windows are boarded up real good and the door's locked down tight. Whoever lived in here did a good job fortifying it. I even tried the pet door on it, but that's locked, too."

Checking to see for himself, Kenny had moved to stand in front of the back door and gave the pet door a kick. It wouldn't budge, just like the teen said.

Kenny: "Who the hell ever heard of a locked doggy door anyway?"

Omid: "I have. My neighbor had one just like it before. It's supposed to be radio-controlled, I think. The way it worked was that the dog wears a chip in its collar, so the door only opens whenever the dog gets close to it."

Kenny: "Well, shit. Everyday's a school day."

Ellie: "So, if we find the dog, then we find its collar and we can use that to get inside, right?"

Joel: "Yup, looks that way."

Ben: "Um, guys? I think I know where we can find it."

He points his finger at something in the backyard, and they all turned to see a grave, right beside an abandoned dog house. It wasn't that difficult for them to put two and two together.

Carley: "Ah great."

Kenny: "Just when I thought this night couldn't get any shittier. There's a shovel right over there we can use to dig it up. Any volunteers?"

The man wasn't wrong. A shovel had been left wedged into the ground right beside a garage shed with vines wrapped all over it. After a moment, Lee had rolled his eyes before he went to grab the shovel.

Lee: "Might as well get it done and over with."

Omid: "Hey, careful, dude. Digging up graves isn't the way it used to be, ya know?"

Lee: "Hmph, yeah, I do."

The man approaches the grave and began digging. Most of the group stepped closer to get a better look at it while Lee was working.

Ellie: "Aw man, I hope that… Do we even know for sure that animals can turn, too?"

Joel: "I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way, Ellie. Trust me, when we were still hunting for food in those woods in Macon, we've seen plenty of animals get eaten by walkers, and not a single one of them came back to life."

Ellie: "Oh. Well, that's reassuring, I guess."

Clementine: "Eww, I can smell it from here. Gross!"

Carley: "It's okay, sweetie. You're okay. Just let Lee do what he has to and we'll be inside soon."

She nods her head and watched Lee keep digging until he finished and jammed the shovel in the pile of dirt he made.

Kenny: "Well, there's what we're looking for. Go ahead, Lee. Take it off."

There was disgust written all over Lee's face as he steps into the grave and bent down near the rotting carcass. He reaches his hand out for the collar, grabs it with his fingers and tries to pull it off, but it was stuck.

Lee: "Eh, the thing won't come off."

He tries to reach for the buckle on the collar, but the head of the dog corpse had snapped off and the collar slipped right through the neck.

Lee: "Ughh!"

Ellie: "Oh, Jesus!"

Ben: "Okay, that's just disgusting!"

Carley raised her hand over her mouth to keep herself from vomiting at what she witnessed. Christa on the hand failed to hold it in and had threw up on a bush next to her. After wiping away the bile from her lips, Clementine shows her concern to her.

Clementine: "Are you okay?"

Christa: "Yeah, I'm fine, honey. The smell is just… unbearable."

Omid: "Are you sure that-?"

Christa: "Yes, Omid. I'm sure."

With the collar in hand, Lee had stepped away from the dead animal and makes a comment to Joel.

Lee: "Next time we have to dig up a grave, I'm handing _you_ the shovel."

Joel: "Just get that damn door open already."

After shrugging his shoulders, Lee returns to the door and holds up the collar in his hand.

Lee: "Here we go."

He tosses it next to the pet door, and with a click, it was unlocked.

Kenny: "Yes. Now we're in business."

They had smiled in rejoice, but then, the crew hears another sound that wasn't too far from outside the backyard. There were more hunters running around and shouting,

Hunter: "Over here, now! Them bell ringers have gotta be hidin' around here, I'm sure of it!"

Carley: "Oh no. Guys, we can't stay out here anymore."

Christa: "Hurry and get the door open!"

Lee: "Okay. Just give me a sec."

He attempts to unlock the door by reaching his hand for the lock through the pet door, but with no success.

Lee: "Agh, it's no good, I can't reach it."

Ellie: "Let me try. I bet I can-"

Just then, Clementine had suddenly quickly crawled through the pet door before anyone could react.

Ellie: "Oh crap."

Everyone just stood where they were with their eyes widened and waited anxiously for something to happen.

Lee: "Clem?… Clementine, are you okay?! Say something!"

A moment later, there was a click, the handle had turned and the door had been pulled open by the little girl as she stepped back out.

Clementine: "Ta-da!"

Her caretaker had let out a calming breath. A part of him felt angry at her for running off without saying anything, but he was mostly glad that she was still okay.

Lee: "Well, way to go, Clem. But, next time, don't go shooting off like that without letting us know first, okay?"

Clementine: "I just wanted to help."

Lee: "I know, and you did a good job. You just had us all worried about you for a moment there."

Omid: "Hey, it is okay if we take this conversation inside? My leg's hurting like hell here."

The short man uses his lead pipe to pull himself up and limps to the door with some assistance from his girlfriend. Joel had taken a quick look inside with his flashlight before giving the all-clear.

Joel: "Doesn't look like anyone's here. Ellie, everyone, let's head in."

One by one, the group of survivors enters the house and Joel closes the door behind him once they were all inside.

* * *

The inside of the manor looked better than they had expected. There were very little signs of a struggle and no blood stains or dead bodies to be seen. Whoever it was that fortified the place were probably long gone by now. Since the living room had plenty of furniture and a fireplace, Christa and Carley had assisted Omid over to them and help him lie down on one of the sofas while he lets out a painful yell.

Christa: "Sorry! Sorry."

Omid: "No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Just needed to get little comfortable on this thing, that's all. Feeling better already. Thanks."

Carley: "Anytime. Now, just stay there and take it easy for now."

Omid: "Already ahead of ya."

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was inspecting the house. Ellie was in awe on the design of the decorations and how lucky they are to find a place like this.

Ellie: "Wow… This is fancy. Ever stayed in a place like this, Joel? I mean, like, you know, before it all went to shit?"

Joel: "No… No, this whole thing is too rich for my blood."

Ellie: "Oh. Well, this is certainly better than some roach-infested motel, that's for sure."

Joel: "Yeah, but we ain't gonna stay in here for forever, so, don't get too comfortable."

Ellie: "Roger dodger."

Just then, Christa had approached them with Carley following behind her. The taller woman was still looking for an explanation from them.

Christa: "So, when were you going to tell us about the radio?"

Joel: "What about it?"

Christa: "That it's working. You don't think that bit of information might've been important to mention to us all? Yesterday, you said that it _wasn't_ working."

Lee: "I know I did. We were gonna tell you. We only found out about it recently and just wanted to wait until it was a good time."

Christa: "And when do you think that would've been? After we've had our necks torn out or received a bullet in our brains? Anytime would've been a good time!"

Carley: "Christa, the radio isn't really our main issue at the moment. Right now, I'm more concerned about the people we're dealing with out there."

Ellie: "Me too. I mean, there's the guy on the other end of that radio, all those guys that tried to kill us back there at the train and on the streets, and whoever it was Lee saw ringing the bells on that tower. I don't know if you guys noticed, but, they didn't start ringing it until after we got close to it."

Kenny: "Yeah, you're right, they did. The fucking thing lured the dead and those bastards directly toward us. It's like they don't even want us to make to the river."

Christa: "What makes you think it's not the same person? Whoever was on the radio was close enough to see us on the streets in the middle of the night, and we didn't see anyone expect for whoever it was on the tower."

Kenny: "That doesn't make a lick of damn sense. If it was the same guy, then why would he even bother to warn us about it?"

Joel: "He wouldn't. I don't think it's the same person either, but someone is definitely following us out there. I dunno about the rest of you, but I don't like being followed."

Kenny: "Another reason why we need to get out on a boat and into the Atlantic where nobody _can_ follow us. Expect they might be hoarding all the boats to themselves by the river. Well, not if I have anything to say about it."

Christa: "I'm not going back out there anytime soon. Omid needs to rest."

Ellie: "But, hold on, what about Chuck? He's still out there, you know. We can't just forget all about him. He could still be in trouble."

Carley: "Lee, what are you thinking?"

All eyes were on Lee now. The man had considered everything they were discussing and the state of their current situation before speaking up.

Lee: "Look, I agree that we need to make sure that Chuck is okay, but we're _all_ in need of a little rest here."

Kenny: "Have you forgotten about new friends out there, trying to find and kill us?"

Lee: "Expect I don't think it's _us_ they're really after, Ken. They might only be looking for whoever's been ringing the bells before we even showed up. And since this house is already fortified, it should be safe enough for us to take it easy in here for a while. Once we do that and it's quieted down out there, then we can head to the river to see where they're keeping the boats and find Chuck. Agreed?"

Kenny: "…If that's what you wanna do, then fine. But I'm not staying too long for someone else to grab up those boats. That's our ticket outta this city."

Omid had been overhearing the conversation in the kitchen and adds in his own comment while ignoring the pain.

Omid: "Hey, look on the bright side. At least this mansion is secured."

Christa: "I'll feel better once we're absolutely sure about that. We need to check the entire house."

Lee: "Yeah, you're right. So, we'd better get started. Carley, you and I will take the first floor. And Joel? You, Ellie, Kenny and Ben will take the second floor. Check every room and make sure there ain't no walkers or people hiding around in here."

Joel: "Got it."

And so, Joel walks off to go up to the second floor with his hand on Ellie's shoulder and Ben was right behind Kenny. Christa goes back to tend to her boyfriend while Clementine tugs on Lee's hand again.

Clementine: "Lee, is there anything I can do to help?"

Lee: "Yeah. See what you can do to help Christa with Omid. Make sure he makes it through the night."

Clementine: "Okay. And Lee?"

Lee: "Yeah?"

Clementine: "I'm really sorry about earlier."

Lee: "It's fine, Clem. Just remember to let us know what you're up to the next time you want to help us. Deal?"

Clementine: "Deal."

After the little girl walks away, it was Carley's turn to have a few words of her own with Lee.

Carley: "You know that we're gonna talk to her about whoever she was talking to on her walkie-talkie sooner or later, right?"

Lee: "Yeah, I do, and we will. As soon as we finish checking the first floor. Now, let's see what this place has to offer."

They begin their inspection of the manor's first floor with the kitchen; Lee was looking through was the cabinets for any edible food and Carley checked the drawers for anything else that could be useful. They were all empty. The house also didn't have any power or water after Lee had turned the sink faucet and flipped a light switch. After they looked through the refrigerator to see it was also cleaned out, Carley shuts the door, and then they see a drawing attached to it. It was a picture of the dog that was buried outside and had the name "Walter" written on it. They frowned for a moment and continued looking. The only food they could find in the kitchen was a bag of dog food .

Lee: "I know that we're hungry, but we're not desperate."

Carley: "I certainly hope it doesn't come to the point where we have to actually eat from that."

Next, they move on to the dining room. There really wasn't much in it other than a broken grandfather clock and two bottles full of whiskey left on an expensive looking table.

Lee: "Whoever cleaned this place out left behind two bottles of whiskey? Looks like someone didn't have their priorities straightened out."

Carley: "Knowing Joel, he'd probably have other uses in mind for them."

She was referring to the Molotov he had used to burn the man at the train alive. Although they were thirsty as much as they are hungry, now wasn't a good time to be drinking alcohol and risk getting drunk. They move on to the living room and check in with the new members of the group.

Lee: "Hey, how's that couch treating you, Omid? Leg getting better?"

Omid: "Yeah. I'm all right."

Lee: "I feel you, man. My leg was all fucked up the first day all this happened."

He nods his head while wincing from the pain.

Christa: "How's it coming?"

Carley: "We're just about done checking the first floor. So far, everything checks out okay."

Christa: "That's good. Clementine, can you hand me that roll of bandages?"

Clementine: "Yup."

While she assisted the woman with Omid, Lee had shined his flashlight at the fire place, which had very little firewood left, and a portrait hanging above it. Lee frowned when he realized it was the family who lived here on the portrait. A man, a woman, their son, and their pet dog, Walter. After that, he and Carley find two doors on each side of the fireplace. He took the right and she took the left. With their guns drawn, they glance at each other, nod their heads and simultaneously opened the doors.

Lee: "There's nothing here expect a bathroom. What've you got?"

Carley: "It's all clear in this one. Just an empty closet."

After shutting the doors, they set their sights on the double-door at the end of the hallway near the front door. They approach it, grabbed each handle and pulled the doors open when something had fallen in front of them and startled them both.

Carley: "Whoa!"

Lee: "Jesus!"

It took them a moment to realize it was only a broom that had fallen out of the closet.

Clementine: "What? What happened?"

Lee: "It's nothing. Just… false alarm."

While Carley placed her hand over her face for a moment, Lee had set the broom back in the closet and shuts the doors. With all the rooms checked, they return to the living room to report.

Carley: "Okay, we've finished securing the first floor."

Christa: "What did you find?"

Lee: "Well, this place ain't got much, but, like I said, it should be safe enough for us to hide from all the mess outside and catch our breath."

Christa: "Great."

Omid had fallen asleep on the couch and Christa had finished closing the wound on his leg once again.

Carley: "Will he be okay?"

Christa: "Yeah, for now. I got it to stop bleeding, but I'm really worried his leg might've gotten infected before I did. Don't suppose you guys managed to track down some meds in here?"

Lee: "No, sorry. Nothing down here except a bag of dog food, and some whiskey."

Christa: "Oh. Well, I'm not _that_ hungry, and I'd rather not be drinking right now. Hopefully everyone else upstairs will find something helpful."

Once they finished their conversation, Carley had looked at Clementine for a moment and places her hand on Lee's shoulder.

Carley: "Lee, I think it's we had that talk now."

He frowns of what he was reminded to do. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but they needed answers about the stranger that contacted his girl through the radio that she claimed was broken. And so, he approaches her and gently asks,

Lee: "Clem, will you come here with us for a minute?"

She furrows her eyebrows and bit her lower lip as they directed her to the dining table and set up one of the chairs on the floor.

Carley: "Sit right here."

She obliges, but was feeling nervous with what they were going to say as Lee took a seat in front of her and Carley was standing next to her.

Clementine: "Are- Are you guys mad at me?"

Carley: "No, sweetie, we're not mad. We just wanna talk to you about what you know about this man you've been talking with on your walkie-talkie."

Lee: "Go ahead, Clementine, it's okay. You're not in trouble. Who is he?"

Clementine: "It's… He's just a friend. I don't think he wants to hurt any of us."

Lee: "How long have you been talking to him?"

Clementine: "Only for a few days, since back at the motel. I asked if he wanted to talk to you before, but he said that it's important that no one else knows."

Lee: "Did you even ask him what his name is?"

Clementine: "Yeah, but he said that wasn't important."

Lee: "What has he been saying to you? And more importantly, what've you been telling him?"

Clementine: "He was asking me a buncha stuff; about where we were, what we've been through and what our plan was. I told him how we were looking for my parents here in Savannah, a boat and the Fireflies. He really sounds nice. I think he wants to help me find them."

With every answer to their question, it made them feel even more uneasy and suspicious about this stranger that they're dealing with.

Carley: "Clementine, that isn't what he wants. This man may sound like he's nice, but he is lying to you. If he won't let you tell us about him, what his name is, or even why he's even stalking us out there, then he might not actually be as friendly as he lets on."

Lee: "She's right, Clementine. For all we know, he could be taking advantage of you. I understand you want to find your parents, but you really need to be careful with how you deal with people that you don't know. Especially if they won't even say who they really are."

* * *

While Lee and Carley continued their talk with Clem about the stranger, the others upstairs were continuing their inspection through the second floor. Ellie went back into the hallway while Joel had just closed a door leading to the master bedroom of the manor and walks around a step ladder that was leading to the attic. He looks to the left to see Ben looking through another bedroom and then to the right to see Ellie looking out the window and approaches her.

Joel: "See anything?"

Ellie: "No. Nothing except that fog still being out there, and a full moon. No signs of any walkers, or jackasses."

Joel: "Come on, we got one more room and then we're done up here."

She moves away from the window and follows him through the doors that lead to a study room. Inside it was a huge desk at the end of the room, few books stacked on the shelves, a couch and another window with a padded seat.

Ellie: "Check out this desk. I bet Clementine would love to do more of her drawings on this thing."

Joel: "Yup, she probably would. You know the drill; look around and see if there's anything we can use."

She nods her head and begins looking through the shelves and cabinets while Joel focused on the desk's drawers. The first drawer only had some writing utensils, which would be of no use for him. The second drawer had a box of revolver ammo, but no gun.

Joel: "Tsh, figures."

He takes it and only finds a few bullets inside. There was nothing to be found in the third drawer. When he opened the fourth and last drawer, he finds a bottle of alcohol and a rag wrapped around it.

Joel: "Must've been saving it for a special occasion. Lot a good that did em."

He reaches his hand to pick it up. But then,

Ellie: "No way!"

Joel: "What is it?!"

Ellie: "Look what I found!"

From a cabinet, she pulls out a walkman cassette player with a tape inside and a pair of earphones. She slips them in her ears, pressed 'play', and before long, she was already enjoying herself with her newfound toy. Joel on the other hand was feeling aggravated for getting worked up over nothing.

Joel: "Ellie?"

Ellie: "This is so fucking cool."

She couldn't hear him over the volume of the music. While she was humming away to the song, Joel had pinched the bridge of his nose as he wanted her get back to what was important without further goofing around.

Joel: "Ellie… Ellie!"

He had to shake her shoulder a little to get her attention. Getting the message, she switched the walkman off, took out the earphones and lets out a chuckle.

Ellie: "Sorry."

Joel: "Just stay focused. Keep looking."

The young girl had shrugged her shoulders and puts the walkman and headphones in her back pocket while Joel sets his pack on the desk, pulls out the bottle and rag and crafts them together to create another molotov and stores it inside his pack. At that moment, he was reminded of how he had lost his shiv back at the train station and decides to make another with the second scissor blade and roll of tape he still had in his pockets from yesterday. Ellie watches him work and waited for him to finish before talking to him about a certain subject.

Ellie: "Hey, Joel?"

Joel: "Hmm?"

Ellie: "Who do you think that guy was that Clementine was talking to on her radio?"

Joel: "Honestly, Ellie? I don't have any goddamn clue. But, my gut _is_ telling me one thing; he ain't no friendly."

Ellie: "That's what I was thinking. Remember what that one guy back at the train said? He mentioned that they have a boss somewhere out here in Savannah. You think maybe it was _him_?"

Joel: "It's possible. But, we can't know for sure just yet."

Ellie: "I guess. It sounded so creepy with what he said. That he's got her parents and wanted Clem to find him no matter what, even if Lee doesn't want her to. Why would he be stalking us like this?"

He was quiet for a moment, folding his arms against his chest and moves a few steps closer to his girl before he answered.

Joel: "I'm thinking… that he wants something from us, and is trying to get to us through Clementine. He obviously didn't want us to know about him, so that might be why she never said anything to begin with. And… didn't she mention before at that Motor inn that she used that thing to pretend she was talking with her parents?"

Ellie: "Yeah, she did."

Her eyes had widened when she realized what he was getting at.

Ellie: "Wait, so then, the whole time she's been doing that-"

Joel: "He's been learning everything he needed to know about us from her."

Ellie: "Oh, God. I can't imagine how she must feeling about that."

Ben: "Kenny?"

Their conversation had ended after hearing the teen from outside the hall. They step out of the study room and find Ben standing by the step ladder.

Ben: "Come on, Kenny, answer me."

Ellie: "Ben, what's wrong?"

Ben: "It's Kenny. He went up there to have a look and hasn't come back down since. I don't know if he can hear me from up there or not, but…"

Joel: "I'll go check on him. You both wait here."

The two teens stood by and watch Joel climb up the ladder. With each step, Joel braced himself for what he may find in the attic. Once his head reached through the top, he finds Kenny on his knees in the middle of the room. He couldn't see it because Kenny was facing away from him, but he had a depressed expression on his face. Joel climbs the rest of the steps and enters the attic before asking,

Joel: "Kenny. What's the matter?"

He had approached his friend and noticed the smell in the room. When he had looked to see what it was that Kenny was staring at, his eyes slightly widened and he shakes his head at what he was seeing.

Joel: "Jesus, Mary and Joseph."

The moonlight shining through the window revealed what it was; a young boy that have been reanimated into a living corpse. It had lifted itself onto its feet, wearing nothing but underwear and a pair of socks. When it turned to face the men, they both immediately saw how this walker boy represented a strong resemblance to Duck. Kenny deepened his frown while it had stumbled toward them and fell to the floor due to its legs being too weak to keep it standing. But that didn't stop it from reaching its decayed hand out while moaning. Moaning and growling.

Kenny: "Kinda looks like Duck, don't he?"

Joel: "It's only a boy. How did he get this way?"

Kenny: "Ain't nothing on him; no bites, scratches or anything. Must've been hiding up here all by himself till he just… starved to death."

Joel: "God help us."

Looking around the attic, Joel saw an empty bottle of water, a used dirty mattress, a dusty old sofa, empty bags of potato chips and other old junk store away up here. There was no telling how long this little boy had been holed up in this room before the inevitable conclusion. His body had been reduced to skin and bones. Joel spent a moment staring at the corpse and was reminded of how Clementine _and_ Ellie were both in a situation similar to this. If he hadn't taken Ellie with him after Marlene had died from being bitten and Lee hadn't found Clem in her treehouse at her home, then both of them could've ended up like this as well. Shaking the thought out of his head, he focuses on what needed to be done right now and moves to stand in front of Kenny.

Joel: "You know we can't leave here like this. It needs to be put down, just like any other walker."

Kenny: "I know that. But I don't know if _I_ can do it, Joel. I couldn't do it before, and I can't do it now."

For Kenny, this was a reminder of what he had failed to protect. A reminder of how he had let his whole family down, and how he couldn't forgive himself for that. It was tormenting for him. For it to be staring at him right in the face. Joel had decided to help Kenny kill this walker child so that he can put it all behind him and focus on moving forward.

Joel: "This is different. Before, it was your kid. Now, it's just someone else's that needs help. You have to be the one to do this."

Kenny: "Me? Look, I… I just… Oh, Christ."

Knowing that he would need something to get it done, he kneels before his friend, pulls out the shiv he had recently crafted together and holds it out in his hand, offering Kenny to take it.

Joel: "Here. This can make it clean, quick and quiet."

Kenny: "Joel, I don't know if I can do it."

Joel: "Yes, you can."

Kenny: "I couldn't even protect my own son."

Joel: "That wasn't your fault. You did everything that any parent would do for his child. Why do you think Lee did it in the first place? So you and Katjaa wouldn't have to do that to your own flesh and blood. But now, it's your turn to help _this_ kid. So, take this and do what's right for him."

Knowing that he was right, he took a deep breath, grabbed the shiv from his hand and got back on his feet. He slowly approaches the undead boy and continued staring. He turns around to see Joel nod his head at him, encouraging him to put it down. And so, he bends down on his knee and whispers,

Kenny: "I'm sorry."

The man forced himself to keep looking it in the eyes as he holds down its rotten hand and pierces the shiv through its skull. Once it stopped moaning, he yanks it out and stood back up. Joel had moved to stand beside and looked down at the dead body as well.

Kenny: "We should bury him."

Joel: "I got it."

After taking back his shiv, Joel picks the corpse up from the floor and carries it with him through the attic and down the steps. The two teens below saw him coming and were shocked to find what was in his arms; Ben had looked away from it while Ellie had gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. He walked right past them and saw Lee was on his way up the stairs to check on them, but then stopped when he saw him carrying the dead child and just stood there speechless. Joel still kept walking with his head held high and eyes forward without showing any emotion on his face. He ignored the rest of the groups' reactions after he made his way down the steps and towards the back door.

* * *

Joel had surveyed the backyard once he stepped through the door to find that the fog still hadn't lifted yet and there was no sign of any walkers or people. He had his mind set on the grave in the backyard Lee had dug up a few minutes ago and slowly marched over to it while looking down at the boy for a moment. Once he was standing over it, he carefully kneels down and places the body right next to the dead dog and closed its eyes with his hand. He then rose back up, grabbed the shovel from the pile of dirt and heard footsteps approaching him. It was Lee.

Lee: "Joel, what the hell happened?"

Joel: "Kenny found him in the attic. The boy was hiding from all of this up there all by himself till he just… ran out of food and water."

Lee: "Jesus Christ."

He starts shoveling the loose dirt to fill up the grave while Lee remained beside him and watched. Eventually, they heard a noise behind them and suspected that someone else was watching. They turned to see Ellie and Clementine standing by the door with sad looks on their faces. Lee frowned as well, but Joel's face remained emotionless and kept shoveling. Eventually, Carley came out to see what was going on and Lee had silently told her to take the little girls inside with her. Once they were back in the manor, he notices that Joel was already more than halfway done. Seeing the boy's face through the dirt reminded Lee about Duck and how he had wanted to give him and his mother a proper burial before, if only they didn't have to leave before any walkers showed up. But then, just when Joel had dug the shovel into the dirt again, he felt that someone else was watching and remained still for a moment before turning his head toward the fence to see the shadowy figure just standing there, lets the shovel go and then stood up straight with a glare. Lee soon saw him as well and widened his eyes. Joel was the first to take small steps towards this stranger, but he suddenly takes off running and the two men had rushed to the fence.

Joel: "Hey! STOP!"

He had drew his revolver and tried to aim at the fleeing man, but he already disappeared in the fog before he could even get a shot off. Lee had gripped the iron bars and called out to him.

Lee: "Stay away from here! You hear me?! You stay the hell away from us!"

The reporter heard their yelling and quickly returned outside, ready to pull out her own gun.

Carley: "Lee?! Joel?! What happened?"

They both glanced at her and kept looking through the fog for the stranger. Knowing that he was already long gone by now, Joel had placed his revolver back in his holster and tells them,

Joel: "We need to get back inside. Now."

Once they were all inside the manor, Lee had shut the door behind him and locked it back up. He then follows Carley and Joel to the living room where the rest of the crew was gathered. Kenny was the last to arrive as he walked down the steps with a frown, much to Lee's concern, and had stood by the fireplace.

Lee: "Ken?"

Kenny: "I'm fine. Just needed to… I'll be fine. What's all the ruckus?"

Christa: "I was about to ask the same thing. What the hell were you two yelling about out there?"

Joel: "Someone was out there just now, watching us through the fence."

Kenny: "What?!"

Ellie: "Who was it?"

Joel: "He ran off before we could even get a good look at his face."

Carley: "You think it was another one of those gunmen out there?"

Lee: "Hard to say, but I don't think so. From what I've seen, these guys like to work in groups. This guy was all by himself."

Ben: "So then, it could've been the guy we heard on that radio, or whoever rang that bell tower?"

Joel: "Could be."

Kenny: "All right, that's it. We've stuck around in here long enough. It's time we get back on track, time to get down to the river and find ourselves a boat."

Lee: "Whoa, Kenny, not so fast. We already talked about what we're doing, remember?"

Kenny: "We're almost at the river, Lee. It's only a few more blocks from here. You wanna get on a boat, or do you wanna wait long enough till those sons o' bitches come here with reinforcements?"

Lee: "Ken, it's still past midnight, there's a thick fog outside and we're all very tired here. We're safe in this house, and it wouldn't hurt to stay for a few more hours to rest up. We can work in shifts on keeping watch outside in case anyone tries to come back here while everyone else gets some sleep in the meantime. As soon as its morning, we can all figure on who's going to River Street and who's staying here. Okay?"

Kenny had narrowed his eyes. He knew that he was right, but he wanted to hurry and head out to find the boats despite how exhausted he was feeling and tried not to show it. Looking around, he saw Clementine had let out a yawn and Ben trying to wipe the drowsiness from his eyes. The whole group really was tired. Knowing that they would all agree with him, he lets out a sigh and relents.

Kenny: "…All right, fine. But I'll be taking first watch."

Before anyone could object, Kenny picks up his rifle and steps outside. They could all feel it. They could feel that their friend out there was starting to lose it, and some were beginning to worry about being around for when he goes over the edge. But for now, they follow on Lee's idea and prepare to try to at least get a good night's sleep while they still can. Some had remained downstairs to rest on the furniture while the rest went into the bedrooms upstairs. Their first night of Savannah had certainly been a long one for everybody, and they dreaded for what else would be in store for them by morning.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3: Up by the River

**A/N Their first night in Savannah done and over with, the survivors prepare to venture out in the streets and hopefully find a seaworthy boat, and Chuck.** **Be sure to let me know what you think of this crossover. I do not own The Walking Dead or The Last of Us.**

Chapter 3: Up by the River

As the morning light shined through the clouds, the group inside the manor were fully awake and had come to a decision on what they're doing; Lee, Joel and Kenny were going to make their way to River Street by themselves and see if there still is a boat to be found and look for Chuck along the way while Carley agreed to be the lookout and Christa continued looking after Omid. Ben had asked Lee if there was anything that he can do to help before they left and he reluctantly decided to let him look after Clementine and Ellie while they're gone, and the teen boy agreed to do that. After studying the map of Savannah they found in the train, Kenny was the first to walk out the back door with his rifle strapped around his shoulder, Joel and Lee were right behind him with their backpacks on and were about to head out through the back gate. That is, until the two little girls followed after them.

Clementine: "Lee, Joel, wait!"

Kenny had sighed with irritation and placed his hands on his hips for having linger around the manor even longer instead of heading straight for the harbor like he wanted to and lets them have their quick talk.

Joel: "What is it?"

Ellie: "Look, Clem and I have been talking, and well… we wanna come with you guys."

Clementine: "Can we please? My mom and dad can't be far now. We can all look for them along the way."

The two men had glanced at each other at that moment. If it was just walkers out there, they might've been willing to let them tag along. But it's not just walkers this time. Now they had to deal with a whole city full of dangerous people who had apparently taken control of Savannah. After their near-escape from them last night, they didn't wanna risk letting the two of them anywhere near them again.

Lee: "Clem, honey, I-I think it'd be best if you and Ellie stay here with the group. Help them here the best you can."

Clementine: "You said we're supposed to always stick together."

Lee: "I-I know I did. It's just this one time. Sometimes we have to put aside the things we want for the good of the group."

Ellie: "But you guys taught how to shoot, remember? We can take care ourselves. We can help."

Joel: "If y'all want to help, you'll stay in the house and keep an eye on Omid with Christa."

Ellie: "But Joel-"

Joel: "Ellie, it's too dangerous out there. You both just stay inside there where it's safe and wait until we get back."

Neither of them liked that. Ellie just responds with a heavy sigh and looked away with her arms crossed while Clementine frowned and lowered her head in sadness. And then they hear the gate open.

Kenny: "Y'all about done? Them boats won't wait on us forever."

Having nothing left to say, they both gave one last glance at their little girls before walking away from them to walk out the gate and head out into the dangerous streets of Savannah.

* * *

Two hunters were walking down the road, armed with their pistol and shotgun and surveying the street for the bell ringers and lurkers. What they didn't see was the three men hiding behind some junk on the sidewalk. They waited until the hunters were far away enough for them to come out of their hiding spots and continue down through the intersection of East Bay and Lincoln. To them, the city looked much worse in the day than it did at night. Along the way, they had noticed how there were several markings on the buildings and Joel stopped to take a closer look at one just as Lee was inspecting a car beside him and noticed that not only was it missing all of it's tires and doors, but the gas was siphoned and various other parts had been removed. Joel had took out the Firefly pendant in his pocket and compared the two symbols. He quickly came to the conclusion that they weren't related and couldn't quite understand the meaning to them. After storing the pendant back in his jacket, he and Lee catch up to Kenny, who had an exhausted and angered look in his eyes. He didn't care what was in the streets or on the buildings. So long as they didn't get in between him and the boats. It was all he could think about.

Lee: "Keep an eye out for Chuck, guys. He might be looking for us out here, too. Or at least waiting for us to find him."

Kenny: "Hmph, yeah… noted."

Judging by his tone, Lee wondered if Kenny even cared about Chuck anymore at this point. Shortly after, a lone walker had come out from the corner of a building moaning, slowly turned it's rotten head to face the approaching living people and snarls at them.

Lee: "I'll take care of it."

Lee withdrew his fireaxe from his pack and allowed the living corpse to limp towards him with its arms reaching out until it was close enough for Lee to kick it down on the pavement, lifts the axe over his head, swings it down onto it's skull and kicks it off. But before they could even walk past it, they hear the sound of the bells ringing again and Kenny quickly pulled out his rifle, expecting to see another group of armed hostiles and walkers to show up soon like they did last night.

Kenny: "God dammit! Them sons of bitches are fucking with us again! It's another ambush."

Lee: "No, hold on, listen. You hear that, right? This one's further off from here. Which means it's gonna get the walkers and those people moving over there."

Joel: "It better. Look."

They turned around to look at where Joel was pointing at down the road that they had just walked through and saw a small herd of walkers stumbling across the street.

Joel: "Over here, get down."

He leads them over to the same spot that the lone walker came out from and wait for the herd to pass.

Kenny: "Just what the hell is going on here?"

Lee: "No idea, but whoever is ringing that bell might be doing us a favor this time."

Kenny: "Whatever, man. I get my hands on who's ringing them, I'll ring their motherfucking bell."

Lee: "Good one."

Joel: "Let's go."

After the herd passed, the survivors moved out from the corner and resume their walk down River Street. The rest of the walk had been going smoothly without running into anymore walkers or hunters. That is, until they were blocked by a bunch of wrecked cars and other debris, preventing them from reaching the harbor.

Kenny: "Argh, are you shitting me? When we're this close?!"

With all the debris in the way, they had no choice but to make a detour. Knowing this, Lee looked for another way around and eventually lead the other two men to a back door of a restaurant.

Lee: "Come on, we can cut across in here."

He attempts to pull the door open, but it wouldn't even budge.

Lee: "Ah, shit, it's locked. Joel?"

Joel: "I got this."

The former black market dealer had taken out the shiv he crafted back at the manor and uses it to force the locked door open. Once they were inside, they immediately heard voices and were quick to find a hiding spot. They overheard hunters arguing about what happened last night and how one of them wanted to look for the bell ringers and another told him they should look for anything worth taking before they go. After they got done talking, Joel peeked at how many were inside the room and counted at least two of them searching the room without knowing that they were in here; one checking the shelves at the end of the room and the other was searching the cabinets near an open door. Joel had stayed crouched down and quietly moved beside Kenny and Lee.

Lee: "We need to take them out quietly."

Kenny: "That's what I was thinking. I'll take the fucker down there."

Joel: "I've got the one by the door."

Lee nods at them in agreement and watches them go while keeping an eye out for anyone else that might show up and was ready to act in case anything happened. As Joel was closing in on his target, he saw the guy turning his head to the left and was about to notice someone was sneaking up on his buddy, but Joel grabbed him from behind before he could say anything and forced him into a choke-hold until he broke his neck, killing him instantly and places him on the floor. Just then, Kenny had brought his rifle around the hunter's throat to strangle him and would not let go no matter how hard he tried to fight back. He eventually stops moving and gets dropped to the floor. With both men down, they continue on through the open door. Kenny was the first to go through while aiming with his rifle, Joel was right behind him and Lee was bringing up the rear. They could see the front door and make their way through the counter to get to it. But then, a bat-wielding hunter comes around the corner sneaking behind Kenny, and Joel tries to warn him.

Joel: "Kenny, look out!"

He had turned around too late. He gets his rifle swat out of his hand and then gets taken down when the bat hits him directly on his old gunshot wound in the abdomen. Before he could swing it again, Joel ran at him, grabs his bat and the two get into a struggle over it. Lee was about to hurry over and aid his friend, but then he looked behind him when he heard running and saw another hunter charging in his direction, gets shoved to a wall and was now struggling to breath due to the hunter pressing the axe against his throat. During the struggle over the bat, Joel had hit the hunter in the head with it and kicks him back. The hunter tried to counter by swinging the bat at him, but the man ducked to avoid the attack, shoves him back, punches him hard enough for the hunter to stagger at the table behind him, quickly snatches the bat away and swings it hard enough so that blood came out from the hunter's head upon impact. Meanwhile, Lee had fought back against his attacker with a headbutt and swings the axe handle at his head. He staggered backwards and then was attacked from behind by Kenny with a cheap shot to the back of the head. The hunter had dropped down to one knee, leaving him vulnerable enough for Lee to lift up his axe and swing it down on his skull. After pulling it back out, the survivors take a moment to catch their breath.

Kenny: "Well, that ended well."

Joel: "We should move before any more of em show up, yeah? We can get out through here."

After retracting their weapons, they head for the front door to get back outside and reach their destination. Lee had closed the door behind him and caught up to the others.

Lee: "Okay, we should be good to… Oh no."

All three of them stood there in silence. There were no boats left to be found in the river. This whole trip coming to River Street had been for nothing. Kenny was just staring forward with a deep frown, not wanting to believe there was nothing left. Joel had pinched the bridge of his nose again, shook his head and sighed in exasperation. Lee just didn't even know what to say about this and remained silent.

Kenny: "There's gotta be a boat. There has to be one. Just one that's seaworthy."

Joel did not like listening to anymore of Kenny's stubbornness and tries to reason with him.

Joel: "Look around you. There ain't nothing here but water, Kenny. Look, we tried. Let's just go back and figure out some other plan."

Kenny: "There is no other plan! This _is_ the plan! It's the only one we got, and this is the only place them assholes would wanna keep them."

Joel: "Kenny, how far are you gonna take this?"

Kenny: "As far as I fucking have to, Joel! You know what? Screw you. Both of you! I ain't giving up that easily!"

He takes off running towards the river, desperate to find the boat they came all this way for.

Lee: "Ken- Argh. Kenny!"

Both Lee and Joel had followed after him. Kenny leaped over a railing and actually did find a boat near the docks, but judging by how someone had tried to back it into the water with a truck and slammed it into a pole, it didn't look like was gonna work. Kenny, however, thought differently.

Kenny: "This one might still be salvageable…"

Lee: "You're kidding, right? Look at it. This boat is completely fucked."

Kenny: "Oh yeah? Know a lot about boats, do ya? Tell you what; if I ever need any expert opinions on American history or how to smuggle drugs and guns, I'll be sure to ask. But how 'bout you both just leave the nautical shit to me."

Joel: "Don't push it, Kenny."

He responded with a glared and climbs onto the boat to look it over.

Lee: "Let's just leave him to it. Let him do what he wants."

Joel: "Fine. In the meantime, you and I should have a look around here and see if anything got left behind that we can use. Maybe even look further down the riverfront."

Lee: "I don't think we oughta split up too far."

Joel: "We won't have to. There's a telescope down there we can use."

He looked behind him and noticed the telescope he was talking about. And so, Lee and Joel leave Kenny alone with the boat and walk across the harbor while noticing a banner hanging above them that reads, "This is our city! No tourists allowed!". The thought of how these armed and dangerous men were able to take control of a whole city worried Lee, but not so much with Joel. When they reached the telescope, they noticed a coin slot and a sticker that reads "Insert ¢25 here".

Lee: "Great. Needs a quarter to work."

Unfortunately, neither one of them had any pocket change to spare since money had no more value nowadays. But then, Joel had heard a lot of groaning.

Joel: "Hold on. Do you hear that?"

Lee nods at him. They could both hear the sound of walkers nearby and that's when they noticed it; A massive pile of walkers that was big enough to block off the street behind it. Some of them were even punctured through large spikes. They approached the pile, staring at it in shock and disgust. And just when they thought they had seen it all.

Joel: "Holy shit."

Lee: "The hell? It's like these walkers are being used like scarecrows. What is this even supposed to be, some kind of barricade? What kind of sick bastard would do something like this?"

Aside from the trapped corpses growling at them, there were also signs posted next to them that read "Stay out!" and "Fuck off!" and other warnings. A moment later, they move away from the barricade and focus on looking for a quarter they can use for the telescope. Lee's first thought was to check the cash register at the newsstand nearby. But when he opened it up, there wasn't even one cent left inside the drawer. While he was busy thinking of where else to look, Joel had a hunch of where he could find a quarter. He goes back into the restaurant they just went through a moment ago and gets the idea to search the pockets from the hunters they had just killed. He starts with the one lying by the table and checked every pocket. Not a dime to spare. He then goes over to the one lying sideways near the door and was able to find what he was looking for in his front pants pocket.

Joel: "I guess some old habits die hard."

As he was ready to leave, he could hear the familiar sound of a walker feasting coming from the other room. He peeks inside and switched on his torch to see that the hunter he killed by breaking his neck had turned and was eating the hunter Kenny had strangled. Before it could notice him watching, Joel had shut off his flashlight, quietly closed the door, and then heads back outside. Lee wasn't aware of why he was in there and approaches him when he asked,

Lee: "There you are. What were you doing in there?"

Joel: "Looking for this."

He hands him the quarter he found and Lee cracks a smile.

Lee: "Well, all right. Nice work."

Joel: "Uh-huh."

They return to the telescope, Lee inserts the coin into the slot and looks through to see what he could find.

Kenny: "Fuck!"

Kenny had finished looking over the boat and came over to them looking more pissed than usual.

Joel: "What now?"

Kenny: "It ain't gonna work. The hull is cracked beneath the waterline, plus somebody made off with the battery. I think we oughta-"

He had stopped in mid-sentence when he noticed the huge pile of walkers and warning signs with his jaw dropped and eyes widened.

Kenny: "What the- What the hell is all of _this_?"

Lee: "A fate worse than death."

He didn't bother to look away from the telescope to know what he was referring to.

Joel: "See anything?"

Lee: "Nothing but water and other shit that won't help. Not a boat to be seen."

He did manage to see one boat in the distance, but it was a wreck. No chance for that one to be salvageable either. He turns the telescope to see the Talmadge Memorial Bridge and noticed there were a lot of people gathered there. By the looks of it, it seemed like they were actually guarding that bridge for a reason he wasn't sure of. He turns the telescope further to inspect the bridge until a building got in the way, but that was when he spotted a lone figure on the roof of the building.

Lee: "What the-?"

The figure on the roof had pulled out some kind of hook and was expertly climbing down the building. Knowing that he was heading in their direction, he warns the others.

Lee: "Joel, Kenny, get down!"

Lee had vaulted over the railing and onto the docks with Joel and Kenny following him. They stay crouched down and whisper,

Kenny: "What happened? What're we hiding from?"

Lee: "I just saw someone climb down from that building, heading this way."

Joel: "Where is he now?"

Before he answered, he peeks his head up from the docks and informs them.

Lee: "He just went into that newsstand."

Kenny: "Well, if he's all alone, then it could the bell ringer we've been hearing about. Or maybe the guy who's following us. I reckon we go and find out."

Lee: "We didn't come here looking for trouble."

Kenny: "Yeah? Well, in case you haven't noticed, trouble always seems to find us one way or another, and this whole city is full of trouble. Look, this could be the fucker on the radio we heard last night, the one who's been messing with Clementine's head. And if he is, we can put an end to this, right here and now."

Lee knew he had a point, but he couldn't shake the bad feeling he had about this and reluctantly nods his head.

Joel: "What are you thinking?"

Kenny: "Lee, you head up the middle of the street and sneak up on him. Joel, you and I will go around the side and we'll cover his flank. We'll all come up on him quiet, take him by surprise."

Lee had furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed Kenny take out his rifle.

Lee: "We're just gonna talk with him."

Kenny: "Oh, we'll talk all right."

Kenny and Joel jump out from the docks and quietly make their way over to the alley, hiding in the corner. They watch Lee moving slowly towards the newsstand and were ready to act in case whoever this person was tried to attack Lee. However, they were so focused on watching Lee, that what they didn't notice was an African-American man was sneaking up on them wearing a black leather jacket with a dirty tank-top underneath and blue jeans. He picks up a plank from the ground and once he was close enough, he swings hard at the guy with the ballcap, breaking the plank and knocking him unconscious. Joel quickly turned around and was kicked in the face before he could react and then was pulled into a choke-hold. Lee heard the noise and saw that Joel was in trouble.

Lee: "Hey!"

But before he could run to him, something metal was quickly brought around his neck and grabs onto it with both hands. He realized that someone was trying to strangle him from behind, and that it was who he was going to sneak up on in the newsstand. After pulling the metal object away from his throat, he hits the back of his head at the person behind him and follows up with an elbow to the head. He turns around to the see that the person he saw earlier was actually a woman wearing an orange hoodie with the hood over her head, along with a surgical mask covering her face and was armed with an ice climbing pick. With a tight grip on her pick, she tries to swing it at the man's head, but Lee ducks to avoid it and counters with a punch to the gut. The woman bent over and took a step back from the hit she took and tries to hit back with a left uppercut. Lee dodges it and knocks her down with a right hook. He then takes out his gun before straddling on top of her, pins down her wrist to prevent her using the pick and aims his gun close to her face. Joel was fighting back against his own attacker by pushing him against a wall behind him while still caught in a choke-hold, elbows him in the gut, grabs his head, throws him over his shoulder and proceeds to beat the life out him with his bare hands. He did not stop punching until he heard a young voice yelling at him.

Boy: "Leave them alone!"

He looks up at the alley to see a young teenage boy that looked to be Ellie's age wearing a beige hoodie and jeans, and aiming a 9mm at his face, looking scared. Joel raised his hand at him and slowly moved a few steps back.

Joel: "Easy, son. Just take it easy with that thing."

The boy didn't respond to him. The man on the ground held his head in pain as he sat up and groaned from the beating he endured.

Man: "Agh, damn... Wha- What the hell?"

He looked surprised at whatever he was looking at and Joel did a quick glance at whatever it was, but did a double take when he realized it was Ellie and Clementine standing in the street staring at them and not in the house with their group.

Joel: "Ellie?!"

Lee was surprised to hear that and widened his eyes to see both their little girls here unexpectedly.

Lee: "Clem?!"

The woman that was still pinned down by Lee tried to move her free arm, but he quickly noticed and held the gun closer to her face. She then slowly reaches for her hood and pulls it back to reveal her blond hair.

Woman: "You're… not hunters."

Lee: "Hunters? What's that supposed to mean?"

Woman: "Mind if I get up?"

He had considered it till he glanced at the man on the ground and the boy holding the gun, and then answers her.

Lee: "Slowly."

He steps off the blond and allowed her to stand up while keeping his gun aimed at her as she brushed the dirt off her hoodie and then removed the surgical mask from her face. Joel saw Lee slowly lowering his gun and looked back at the boy still aiming his gun at him until the man he was beating on raised his hand at him.

Man: "It's all right, Sam. They're not the bad guys. Lower the gun."

The boy did what he had told him and moved next to him to help him get back on his feet while wincing from the beating he took. Knowing that these people weren't going to try anything else, Joel looked at Lee again to see him put his gun back in his shoulder holster and then focused on their little girls. The two of them saw the angry look on his face and braced themselves as he marched straight towards them.

Joel: "What in the hell are the two of you doing out here?! You're supposed to be at the house!"

Ellie: "Well, you guys have been gone for a while and everyone was starting to get worried after we heard the bells, then Omid's leg started getting worse. Christa asked Carley and Ben to bring him upstairs and then we snuck out to find you three while no one was looking."

Clementine: "We didn't wanna just sit around there and do nothing. We wanted to come help."

Joel: "We told you both to wait there till we got back."

Unbeknownst to any of them, Kenny had recovered from the blow to the back of his head and struggled to walk out from the alley and sees some guy standing a few feet away from Lee and assumed it was _him_ that attacked him and aims his rifle at him while ignoring the boy beside him. Lee saw what he was attempting and tried to stop him.

Lee: "Kenny, stop!"

The guy Kenny was aiming at quickly turned around and grabs the barrel of the gun just as he fired it. The bullet missed and the noise aggravated the walkers stuck in the pile. Kenny was then kicked to the ground, the man takes the pistol from the boy he called Sam and aimed it at Kenny.

Lee: "No! He's with us!"

At first, he hesitated, but then eventually chose not to pull the trigger and puts the gun away in the back of his waistband. After Kenny got back on his feet once more, Joel walks over to them with Clem and Ellie beside him. The woman with blond hair had given them all skeptical looks and asked,

Woman: "Who the hell are you people?"

Lee: "Look, everyone just calm down for a minute here."

Kenny: "I'll calm down once these punk-asses tell us who the fuck _they_ are!"

Molly: "Back off, asshole. The name's Molly."

Henry: "I'm Henry. This is my little brother, Sam."

Lee: "All right then, my name is Lee. This is Joel, and you've already met Kenny here. These two are Clementine and Ellie. None of us want any trouble."

Clementine: "Hi."

The little boy had looked at the two girls that had smiled and waved at him. He felt surprised to be seeing other kids like him for the first time in a long while and eventually responded to them with his own little wave.

Sam: "…Hey."

The two scavengers he was standing behind were observing these new people in front of them for a moment before they asked,

Henry: "You people really aren't from around here, are ya?"

Lee: "No, we came all this way from Macon. Kenny here is from Florida."

Kenny: "They didn't ask for our life stories, Lee. And what does it matter to you people anyway?"

Henry: "You sure you want to know that?"

Kenny: "How bad can it be?"

Sam: "Real bad…"

Lee had frowned at the young boy's response and listened to what they had to say.

Molly: "When everything started going to shit, some people got together and sealed off that whole neighborhood. Folks who're willing to do anything and everything to stay alive, stop the dead from getting in. We try to stay outta their way."

Kenny: "Why?"

Henry: "Let's just say that they've got a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who won't, or can't, live by their rules. You've all seen those guys that've been going around patrolling the city since you arrived, yeah?"

They nod their heads as a response.

Molly: "They're called Hunters, and they're about as vicious as they come. Most of them are the ones that Crawford didn't see worthy of their "safe haven". They take anything they see as valuable to them and don't like any strangers, or 'tourists' as they would call them, to be anywhere near Savannah. Not anymore."

Joel: "So, how'd you figure that we weren't one of them?"

Before he answered, Henry had focused his gaze on the two little girls and they furrowed their eyebrows when he pointed his finger at them.

Henry: "It's because you guys have _them_ with you. In case you haven't notice, nobody here keeps kids around them anymore. It's all about survival of the fittest out here."

They didn't like that. The city was starting to sound a lot worse than they could've imagined. And then, the men had started getting some answers from these scavengers.

Joel: "Do you three know who's been ringing the bells all over the city?"

Molly: "Yeah, that would be us three."

Kenny had glared at them and immediately starts pointing his finger at their faces.

Kenny: "I knew it! Guys, I knew they were the ones on the radio following us! Fucking with us!"

Molly: "Get that finger outta my face, Grampa, before I jam it straight up your ass. We haven't been following you. Hell, we didn't know you people were even here."

Henry: "Yeah, man, we don't even have a radio on us, either. So, maybe you ought to not be so quick to jumping conclusions, old man."

Kenny: "Yeah, well, whoever the hell y'all are, ringing them bells last night nearly got us all killed; brought all them "hunters" and the dead right on top of us."

Henry: "Well, we're sorry about that. But, it's just how we all get around Savannah."

Molly: "Henry's right. We stick to the rooftops and ring the bells at one tower to attract the local geeks straight to it and lore away the hunters nearby long enough so we can loot their camps and other places while they're occupied."

The man with the ballcap had raised an eyebrow at the name she just mentioned for the dead and almost let out a laugh.

Kenny: "Geeks? That's what you call em?"

Sam: "Yeah. You know, like at the carnival? They'll eat anything dead or alive."

Joel: "So, if it was you three that've been ringing the bells, then I'm guessing that makes y'all the 'bell ringers' that the hunters have been chasing after this whole time?"

Molly: "Yeah, we're pretty well known to those assholes. They think they can catch us, but we always give them the slip and sometimes even send em on wild goose chases."

Lee: "That's actually pretty smart, with the rooftops and bells."

Molly: "It doesn't take that much effort to outsmart the dead. Bunch of dumbasses. And the hunters aren't any brighter."

Henry: "It helps when you got a plan and know what you're doing out here. You just gotta move fast, get in and out before any of them start to wonder back."

Lee: "So then, that wasn't either of you that we saw last night? Watching us through the fence?"

Henry: "What? What're you- Look, man, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, alright? Like Molly said, we didn't know any of you were around up until now."

He had looked away from him with his eyes narrowed for a moment before facing him again to ask Henry something more important.

Lee: "What did you mean when you said no one keeps kids with them anymore? Why not?"

Before he answered him, Henry, his brother and Molly had approached the walker barricade and stared at it. The men and the little girls had followed after them.

Henry: "That's their rule; no children, no elderly, no one with any advanced medical condition. Basically, no one who would be a burden on the community. That's what they're all about, its how they survived while the rest of the world parishes on the outside."

Kenny: "Jesus Christ."

Molly: "Well, just the opposite, when you think about it."

Lee: "That's not the way we handle things in _our_ group."

Henry: "Yeah? Well, good for you."

Kenny: "But still, you… You're not saying that they actually…? I mean, kids?"

Molly: "No, they just forced the children to leave, along with their parents. Left them to fend for themselves out here in the world. Aside from being able to pull their own weight, they only allowed those who are at least 14-years-old. Otherwise, you're just a useless mouth to feed, another drain to their precious resources."

Clementine: "What does that mean? Pull your own weight?"

Lee: "It just means being able to contribute and help out. Like you and Ellie do all the time."

Kenny: "This doesn't look like any way to live to me."

Henry: "Couldn't agree more."

Joel: "So then, all these walkers that've been posted here?"

Molly: "These are only _some_ of the people they wouldn't allow in. It's also their own little barricade to keep themselves in and let everyone out here know to stay the fuck out. There are more of them around the blocks. Not even the hunters would go through them."

These three seem to know so much about Crawford and the hunters, that Joel had started feeling suspicious about these scavengers and narrowed his eyes before he took a step forward.

Joel: "How do you three know about all of this?"

Molly and Henry had glanced at each other for a second before they answered him.

Henry: "Everyone who lived in Savannah knows about it. What was going on between Crawford and the hunters got passed around like they were ghost stories."

Molly: "Except that these are true."

They all walked back over to the news stand, where they continued their conversation.

Henry: "Look, let's try this again; you all aren't from Crawford, and you're not hunters, so then what are you people? Why did you all even come here in the first place?"

Lee: "We're just people trying to survive out here, the same as you all."

Kenny: "And the only way we're gonna survive is by getting a boat, and getting out into the Atlantic."

Molly: "Yeah, good luck with that. Anyone with a boat took it out of here as soon as the dead started eating everyone and the whole Crawford/Hunters feud started. Anything that got left behind, they stripped them for parts and supplies. Cars too."

Kenny: "There's gotta be something."

Molly: "If there was, you think we'd still be here? We've been through every inch of this city. There's nothing left other than what's being horded inside Crawford and the Hunters' camps. You're welcome to try either, but good luck in not getting massacred when you do."

Kenny: "So, that's it? There's just no way out of this?"

Henry: "Yeah, there's one. But, you won't like it."

Joel: "What do you mean?"

The older brother had eyed the Talmadge Memorial bridge and points it out to them before he continued.

Henry: "See that bridge out there? _That_ is the one and only way to leave this city."

Kenny: "What's so bad about that?"

Molly: "What do _you_ think? The three of us have tried going that way once. _Once_. Too many hunters guarding that bridge. We were barely lucky enough to make it back from there alive. Once you step into Savannah, there ain't any other way out except through there."

The scavengers could see the uneasiness in their eyes from knowing how bleak this whole situation is for them, and their people back at the manor.

Kenny: "Shit…"

Henry: "Told ya you wouldn't like it. Now listen, since you guys obviously ain't getting a boat anytime soon, we'd advise you all to go find someplace safe so that-"

He saw them before the others did. A herd of walkers had arrived at River Street.

Henry: "Oh, for- you gotta be kidding me."

Everyone turned to face the walkers heading their way with fearful looks in their eyes. It was the same herd that got lured by the bells earlier, and now they were coming for the other noise that attracted them.

Kenny: "Isn't that-?"

Lee: "The way we came."

Joel: "Dammit, the gunshot must've lured them back."

Ellie: "There's another way we can get back to the house, right?"

Joel: "Molly, Henry, is there-?"

When they turned around, the scavengers were gone. They hurry over to the alley to see Molly and Sam already on a fire escape and chased after them just as Henry was getting pulled up to them.

Lee: "What the hell are you three doing!?"

Molly: "I'll tell you what we're _not_ doing. We're not getting eaten."

Kenny: "And what about _us_?"

Molly: "What about you?"

Ellie: "What the fuck?! You're seriously just gonna leave us like this?"

Clementine: "You have to help us! Please!"

Both Molly and Henry looked down and saw the look in the two little girls' eyes. When Henry also noticed the look his litter brother was giving them, that's when he knew what they were doing was wrong.

Henry: "Shit, Molly. We gotta help them. If we don't, we're no different than _them_."

Molly: "…Okay, fuck, just make it fast."

Henry: "All right, come on. Send the girls up first."

As Henry reached his arm out, Lee had picked up Clementine by her waist and she gets pulled up in the fire escape. Ellie was next when Joel gave her a leg-up and Molly grabs her hand to hoist her up. Kenny had noticed the herd was already stumbling into the alley.

Kenny: "Oh, fuck me!"

Lee: "Kenny, get up there! Hurry!"

Lee had given Kenny a boost and was pulled up by both Molly and Henry. Once he was on, he quickly drops onto his stomach and reaches his hand out to Lee.

Kenny: "Come on, pal, one good jump. I gotcha!"

Lee had jumped as high as he could and grabbed onto his friend's hand. Kenny tries to pull him up, but once again, the pain from his gunshot wound bothered him, causing him to lose his grip and Lee had fell next to Joel.

Clementine: "No! Lee! Joel!"

Kenny: "Fuck! I'm sorry. Here, try again."

Joel: "There's no time! We gotta move!"

The walkers were getting too close for anymore attempts to climb up the fire escape, so Lee and Joel had made a run for it down the alley.

Ellie: "Come on, you guys! Hurry!"

After pushing a dumpster in the alley out of the way, they keep running, but stopped when they saw another herd of walkers blocking their way. Lee had turned around to see the other herd already closing in, took a step back and was now back-to-back with Joel. Cornered with no way out.

Joel: "Shit! How many bullets do you have left?"

Lee: "Not enough for all of them."

Sam: "Wait, there's a manhole! Right below you!"

They both looked down to their feet and saw that the boy was right. This was the only escape route they had left; down into the sewers. Kenny pulled out his rifle and takes aim at the approaching walkers.

Kenny: "Lee, Joel, get your asses outta there!"

With Kenny firing his rifle and Henry eventually backing him up with his pistol, Lee and Joel had bent down and pulled on the manhole with all their might. Even with their combined strength, it just wouldn't budge.

Lee: "Gaaahh, fucking thing won't open!"

Joel: "Lee, your axe!"

Lee quickly followed Joel's suggestion as he withdrew his fireaxe and wedges the picked-sharp end in the manhole to pry the lid open. Once it popped open, Joel had pulled it away, quickly jumps in the hole and climbs down the ladder. Lee hears the gunfire from above and saw a couple walkers from both sides dropping as they were closing in, glances up to see the worried look on Clementine and Ellie's faces before following after Joel into the sewers and closes the manhole.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **A/N Surprise! Another character, or should** **I say** **characters, from "The Last of Us" has finally appeared. The two brothers, Henry and Sam. Were you surprised, or was it obvious? Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter with the way I paired Molly up with the brothers and the way the hunters and Crawford were explained.**


	4. Chapter 4: Down into the Sewers

**A/N After pulling off a narrow escape from the herd of walkers, Joel and Lee will have to make it through the Savannah sewers and find their way back to their group.** **Be sure to let me know what you think of this crossover. I do not own The Walking Dead or The Last of Us.**

Chapter 4: Down into the Sewers

It was a close call. Too close for comfort, to be exact. It was almost it for the two of them. Had it not been for the manhole, Lee and Joel might have not been able to escape from the surrounding herd of walkers. And now, they had both climbed down the ladder to the sewers. They were able to catch their breath now, but they were also separated from Clementine, Ellie and Kenny. They last saw them at the top of the fire escape, thanks to the newly acquainted scavengers, Molly, Henry and his little brother, Sam. They stared up at the covered manhole, listening to the walkers snarling and clawed at the lid with no avail in opening it. There was no chance for Lee nor Joel to be able go back up to the alley anytime soon.

Lee: "Looks like you and I are stuck down here for a while."

Joel: "Well, I ain't waiting around for the walkers to clear out up top. We're gonna have to make our way back to the house through these sewers."

Lee: "That might be easier said than done."

And so, Lee and Joel walk down some steps to begin venturing through the sewers in hope to find their way back to the house, their group and their little girls. But even if they did managed to make it back up top, they would still have to avoid any and all Hunters that were patrolling the streets of Savannah. When they got to the end of the steps, they find a door waiting for them at the bottom. Joel opens it, but then the door pulls at some wires tied to it and causes a milk crate to dump out empty glass bottles and they all break upon contact with the ground. The noise had surprised both men.

Joel: "Ah! Shit!"

Lee: "What the fuck was that?"

Joel: "Trap. Think it's suppose to be some type of alarm. Someone doesn't want visitors down here."

Lee: "So much for being able to catch a break."

There wasn't that much light in these damp tunnels. So, Lee and Joel switched on the torches they still had on the straps of their backpacks. Unfortunately, they were both completely turned around on where they should go. All they could do was go with their instincts and hope that they can figure out a way through this maze of a sewer system. Along the way, they noticed something in the middle of the floor and were disgusted at what they realized they were looking at.

Lee: "Half eaten sewer rats…"

Just then, Joel heard some moaning and looks to the right to see a silhouette of a walker stumbling through the tunnels.

Joel: "Great. Walkers are down here, too."

Lee: "This just gets shittier and shittier by the minute."

They stepped past the dead rodents and pushed forward. Even though they had been treading through the sewer system for a few minutes, it felt like it had been hours to the both of them. All that could be heard was the constant dripping from the leaky pipes, occasional moaning from the distance and the footsteps on the soggy floors. Wanting to break the silence, Lee starts up a conversation with the man walking beside him.

Lee: "Hey, Joel."

Joel: "What?"

Lee: "You think Kenny and the girls will be all right?"

Joel: "With Molly, Henry and Sam? Maybe."

Lee: "I just hope they can make it back to the house okay."

Joel: "They probably will."

Lee had noticed the tone of Joel's voice from his comment and raised an eyebrow at him.

Lee: "You don't sound so sure."

Joel: "Yeah? That might be cause I honestly don't think we can trust them."

Lee: "What makes you say that?"

Joel: "Lee, in my line of work, I've had plenty of run ins with loner types like them before and not one of em has ever given me a reason to trust them in the long run."

Lee: "They seem okay to me."

Joel: "Because of that little good deed they did back in that alley? They didn't think twice to leave us to the walkers. Doesn't matter if they're different from those Hunters and Crawford. In the end, they're only thinking about themselves."

Lee: "Except they _didn't_ leave us. They saved us back there."

Joel: "Only because Ellie and Clementine were there with us. I'm bettin' that the only reason why they helped us is because they didn't want the blood of two little girls on their hands. And now, they'll likely be wanting something in return for their troubles."

Lee: "Like what? We don't exactly have anything to offer."

Joel: "My point being, I don't trust any one of them. And you shouldn't either."

Lee: "Now, hold on a-"

Before he could say anything else, he was interrupted by the static noise coming from the radio he was still carrying with him and they both instantly stopped where they stood.

Stranger: "Hello?"

Joel: "Oh shit."

Lee had taken out the radio from his waistband and stares at it, thinking why this guy would be contacting them again.

Stranger: "Can anyone hear me? Lee? Joel? Clementine? Ellie? I know you're there."

He thought about if he really wanted to respond and talk with this stranger and get some answers from him, or if he should just ignore him and switch off the radio.

Stranger: " _Are_ you still there?"

After debating in his mind about it, Lee holds down the button and answers the call while he and Joel resume walking.

Lee: "Yeah, we're here."

Stranger: "Ah, so it seems. For now."

Lee: "What do _you_ want?"

Stranger: "Why sound so hostile? You should be thanking me. I warned you all to get out of them streets, didn't I?"

Lee: "How do we know you're not just another one of those Hunters, or even someone from Crawford?"

Stranger: "I'm not. Think what you will about me, but I can promise you I am not obligated with any of those people."

Lee: "Was that you we saw last night at the house, watching us through the fence?"

Stranger: "Yes. That was me."

Lee: "What the hell were you doing there?"

Stranger: "Same thing I'm doing right now; making sure you're all still alive. More importantly, I'm making sure Clementine and Ellie are still alive. It's a wonder how they still are at this point after being around you and your friend, Joel, for as long as they did."

Lee: "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Stranger: "So many questions, so little time. It means that those little girls staying with you both is more of a hazard than all of the dangers in this city combined."

Lee had narrowed his eyes at the radio and stopped walking. He had thought about his words from when they first heard on from inside the locomotive upon their arrival to Savannah and tries to confirm his suspicions.

Lee: "I wanna talk to Clementine's parents. You said you got them with you, right? Let me speak with them."

He waited for someone to answer. While waiting, he heard groaning and looked to the left to see another walker staggering in the opposite direction towards the darkness. He was anxiously hoping that what this man said back on the train was true and that he can actually talk to Clem's parents. But unfortunately, it did not work out the way he hoped.

Stranger: "They don't want to talk with you. Not after what you put their daughter through. You can put _her_ on for them if you want. You know how much she misses them, and you're not them."

He felt hurt from hearing that. He knew what this man said was true, but even so, it didn't change how important Clem was to him after all they been through. Lee was feeling suspicious and doubted that he was being entirely truthful as he asks,

Lee: "Are they both with you or not?"

Stranger: "Even if they were, what difference does it make to you anyways?"

Lee: "Because I promised her we would look for them here in Savannah. Look, you're right, she's not my daughter and I'm not her dad, but I'll be damned if I let anything happen to her. The same goes for Ellie, Carley, Kenny and everyone else in our group."

Stranger: "Is that right? Well then, that's mighty noble of you. Let me ask you an honest question, Lee. Do you and Joel really think you can protect both little girls who aren't even your daughters and keep those people you got in your group alive and well? Like how you let one of your friends get mauled and served as dinner by cannibals? Or how about that boy you let get eaten at that farm and you didn't even lift a finger to help him from that tractor?"

Lee frowned upon being reminded of Mark and Shawn Greene's untimely deaths, and how he couldn't do anything to prevent them from dying. Or at least, he didn't do enough. It was then that Joel had decided to have a few words with this mysterious man on the radio as he walks up to Lee with his hand out. Once the walkie-talkie was placed in his hand, he starts walking through the sewers again while holding down the button.

Joel: "Did Clementine tell you about all that?"

Stranger: "She might have. I assume this is Joel I'm talking to now?"

Joel: "Yeah, that's right. What do you know about Ellie?"

Stranger: "I know she is also not your daughter, that's she been put through as much danger as Clementine has and at her age, she wouldn't understand I'm trying to do what's best for the both of them."

Joel: "Let me make this as clear as I can for you, asshole. If you go anywhere near that house, them little girls or any of our people like you did last night, I will kill you myself. And when I do, I will _not_ make it quick."

Stranger: "I know you will. I know Lee will. In fact, I wouldn't be the first person you two killed before the dead first started coming to life, now would I?"

The two men slightly widened their eyes and glanced at each other before the men on the other end continued.

Stranger: "That's right. I know what you both are. I know what you've done. That child you buried in that backyard? That right there is nothing short of a prime example of where they'll both end up one way or another if they stay with you two. Because, unlike you two, I can keep them safe from it all. I can actually _provide_ for them."

Joel was growing more and more irritated from the sound of this man's voice and how he seems to know plenty about them when they don't even have a clue who the hell this man is.

Joel: "Cut the shit already. Just tell us who you are!"

Stranger: "If that's so- -ant to you, th- -in. My name is-"

There was too much static on the radio to understand what he was saying anymore. They had stopped walking when they noticed the signal was fading out.

Joel: "Hello? Hello!"

No one responded. The connection between the two radios had been severed, which had put an end to their uneasy conversation.

Joel: "Fuck. Lost the signal."

Lee: "We must be too far underground at this point."

The former black market dealer handed the radio back over to Lee and placed a hand on his hip while wiping his face with his other hand.

Joel: "Just… who in God's name was that?"

Lee: "I don't know. To be honest, I'm not sure I even _want_ to know."

Joel: "We gotta keep moving."

Lee follows Joel after securing the walkie-talkie back on his waistband. So many questions were going through their minds about this stranger. Who was he? Why was he so fixated on Clementine and Ellie? Why would he follow them all the way to Savannah? They would have time to ponder on all that another time. For now, they had to focus on getting out of the sewers. They soon come across a downward tunnel. With nowhere else to go from that point, they make their way down while being careful to not slip on the water flowing through it and end up sliding down. But once they jumped down at the end, Joel's feet had pulled down a wire waiting for them, causing another trap to go off and two empty barrels tied to the wire had slammed into the ground and made a loud bang.

Joel: "God dammit!"

And then, they heard the snarling and growling of the dead getting closer, attracted to the noise the trap had caused.

Lee: "They're coming. Get ready."

They both pulled out their guns from their holsters and aim them, along with their torches, at the approaching walkers. They picked their targets and shot them right in the head. There didn't seem to be that many, so they could deal them all without using too much ammo. But unbeknownst to Lee, there was another walker stalking him from behind. Joel had heard it first when he turned to see it coming for his comrade.

Joel: "Lee, behind you!"

Lee had turned around to see the walker about to pounce on him and brought his arm up to its neck in time to keep it from taking a bite out of him. Joel had shot at another walking that was closing in on his friend before he retracted his gun and draws his machete before shoving the walker attacking Lee back and stabs it in the skull. Lee shoots the last two remaining attack walkers and they both take a moment to catch their breath.

Lee: "God damn."

Joel: "You alright?"

Lee: "Yeah. I'm good. I'm good for now."

Just as it seemed they were in the clear, they hear more walkers from where that one walker snuck up on Lee. They shine their torches down the dark tunnel and could see a whole herd coming for them. Too many for them to fight on their own.

Joel: "Son of a bitch! We can't stay here! Go, run!"

And so, both men took off in the dark tunnels to, once again, get as far away as their legs can carry them away from the approaching herd. Their vision was limited by their flashlights swaying from all the running. Up ahead, Joel was able to notice another wire and warns Lee.

Joel: "Watch it, watch it!"

They both ducked underneath one wire while leaping over another. They then came to a stop when they come across three different pathways, each one had wires hooked up to them.

Lee: "Fuck. Which way?"

They had to decide fast before the walkers could catch up with them. Eventually, Joel had pointed to the left and they carefully maneuver past the traps and keep running until they reached another tunnel and went through it before they came to a stop and breathed heavily from all the running they just did.

Joel: "Okay, I think we're clear."

Lee: "You think whoever it was that built those traps are still down here?"

Joel: "Maybe. Either way, we need to keep moving and try to avoid anymore of em if we can."

It took a minute or two before they were done recovering from their exhaustion and continued down the tunnel. Unfortunately, they hear more walkers and they could hear the sound of them feasting off of something, or someone. As they walked alongside the wall, they peeked around the corner and could see where they were at.

Lee: "More walkers."

Joel: "I see em. They look busy eating off some poor bastard they caught."

Lee: "And they're blocking our way. Too many for us to take on by ourselves. We'll have to be smart about this, find a way past them without letting them know we're here."

Joel: "I don't see anymore of them traps, so we're clear from that, at least."

Going back was not going to be an option for them. Wherever the path ahead leads to might lead them closer to where the mansion is. Lee had looked around the tunnel to find anything that could be of use and finds something that was far away enough from the hungry walkers.

Lee: "There's a small passage way over there. If I can get to it, I'll be able to see if it can lead us away from those things."

Joel: "Go for it. I'll watch your back."

He nods and crouches down to move quietly toward the passageway. Joel stood by and was ready to pull out his revolver again in case this all goes wrong. However, Lee was able to make inside without any of them noticing. While he was inside, he hears more growling and moaning of a loan walker coming from a grate inside the passage. But this growling and moaning sounded a bit different from the others. It sounded deeper and slightly more intimidating. That's when he saw a huge pair of rotten legs appear from the other side of the grate. Each step it was taking felt like the ground was slightly rumbling, sending chills down Lee's spine. Once they were gone, the man took a relieving breath and shook his head.

Lee: "Good thing that's out there and not in here."

Joel: "Lee, over here."

He looked to the left to find Joel beckoning him over from the end of the passageway and moves over to him with another grate separating the two of them.

Joel: "It's locked. Can you get it open from your side?"

Lee: "Yeah, I think so."

He had tried to pry it open the lock on the grate with his bare hands, but it would not budge. So instead, he withdraws his fireaxe, sticks the picked end of his weapon through the lock and pulls as hard as he could until it moved. With the grate now unlocked, Joel pulls it open and Lee steps out from it after retracting his axe. He walks back over to peek at the other side of the passage way he just went through and whispers to Joel.

Lee: "This could be our best chance of getting past them. If only we had something to-"

He was interrupted mid-sentence by Joel flicking his lighter and uses it to light the molotov he had taken out from his backpack.

Lee: "What are you gonna do with that?"

Joel: "I'm gonna lure them all this way. Stand back."

Lee had done what he said by moving over to the side and watches. After he pockets his lighter, Joel had pulled back his arm and tosses the lit molotov at the floor. The smash from the glass bottle, along with the fire and smoke was enough to get the small herds' attention as they moved away from the half-eaten corpse and toward the burning molotov. Joel and Lee were hiding and waiting from inside the small passage way.

Joel: "Just sit tight. Let em pass."

One by one, they watched each walker sluggishly making their way to the distraction Joel had set off for them. Once the remaining walker was out of sight, they cautiously head out from the small passage way and make their way down the tunnel and decide to inspect the disemboweled man that they were eating earlier. They didn't recognize who this was. He seemed to be middle-aged and he had a bullet wound on the side of his head, making it obvious that he had killed himself so that he wouldn't turn into one of those undead monsters.

Lee: "Eugh, poor bastard."

Joel: "Oh boy. Must've been trying to hide out down here, too. Only, it didn't work out as well as he hoped."

He had noticed the revolver in his hand and takes it out from his grip to check the chamber for any and all ammunition.

Joel: "Two bullets. That's it."

After pocketing them, Lee had noticed a paper sticking out from his front pocket and carefully pulls it out. Most of it was covered in blood, but it was still clear enough for Lee to see what was written on it and shows it to his friend.

Lee: "Joel, look at this."

Joel: "What the hell? That looks exactly like one of those markings we've been seeing on the buildings out there."

Lee: "Yeah. Can't make sense of it, though. Too much blood on this thing to read what else was written on it. You think maybe he was one of those people from this Crawford place?"

Joel: "Could be. Doesn't matter anyways. Let's go."

He agreed with him as he drops the paper and follows him through the tunnel. Along the way, they had taken a left and then a right and then they notice light shining through a manhole at the end of the hall. They were both eventually standing underneath it with a sign hanging in front of them, only to notice that the ladder to the manhole had been removed and was nowhere to be found. It would be too high for them to reach, even if one of them were to boost the other up to it. Before long, they could hear the deep growling and stomping from before and felt the slight rumbling on the floor. They turned around and their flashlights revealed it was the walker Lee had seen earlier in the small passage way. Except this walker was different from the others; it looking physically more imposing since it was taller than the usual height, looked a bit more muscular and slightly overweight. The worst part was that it had a hard hat strapped to its head to go along with its construction worker attire, making this walker much more difficult to kill, and now it was coming for its prey.

Lee: "Holy shit!"

Joel: "Get back!"

The big walker swings it arms at them, but they both moved in opposite directions to avoid being grabbed. Joel pulls out his revolver and fires it at its head, but the bullet only hits the hard hat and it turns to face him. At that moment, Joel was really starting to wish he hadn't used that molotov earlier to distract the other walkers when he fires another bullet that missed its mark and steps backwards when the big walker staggers in his direction. Lee tries to help his friend by swinging his axe at him from behind and hits the hard hat, but the axe only bounces off from it, not even making a dent on the thing. He attempts to take another swing, but the monster had turned around while swinging its arm. Lee was pushed back by its bulky arm, which made the man lose his grip on his weapon and his back hits the sign on the wall, causing it to slightly tilt to the side and he had fell over, leaving him vulnerable to this frightening behemoth. Thinking fast, Joel had seen where Lee's axe had been dropped, retracts his gun and moves to pick it up. Lee was still on the ground backing away from the approaching giant until he sees Joel use the axe to bring it around its neck and pull it back. He tries with all his might to hold it in place and yells out,

Joel: "Lee! Get this fucking thing off! Now!"

Following his lead, Lee rose back up and hurried over beside him to pry the hard hat off while it was swinging its arms around. He had to hurry before Joel lost his grip on the monster. It wasn't long before Lee was able to remove the hard hat off its head and Joel released it. When it tried to swing its arms at them again, Joel quickly reacted by swinging Lee's weapon as hard as he could right at the center of its forehead. It had taken one more step forward before its arms dropped and it fell over while the triumphant survivors moved out of the way and were now trying to get their bearings from being able to take down this big construction walker despite the odds.

Lee: "Jesus Christ. That was way too fucking close."

Joel: "No shit."

Lee: "Are you okay?"

Joel: "It's nothing."

Lee had taken back his fireaxe by pulling it out from the dead walker's head and retracts it to his backpack. Joel had shined his flashlight at the sign that got tilted during the brawl and noticed something unusual about it.

Joel: "Hold on."

He felt around the sign and could feel a breeze coming from it. He then decides to remove the sign from the wall and they had discovered a hidden passage. With nowhere else to go and curious where it might lead, Joel had crawled in through the hole in the wall and Lee was right behind him. Inside the room, the first thing they find was a sign that reads "Fallout Shelter" with a hazard mark on it.

Lee: "Looks like we've found one of Savannah's nuclear fallout shelters."

When they looked around the room, there didn't seem to be much inside other than what they noticed on the shelves

Lee: "There's plenty of food and other supplies to go around in here."

Joel: "Wait a minute."

Lee: "What is it?"

Joel had taken a closer look at the contents on the shelves and a bed that was in a corner of the room before he tells Lee what he had noticed.

Joel: "This all looks like it's been organized not too long ago. And see that bed over there? That was used recently."

Lee: "So then, someone might be living here."

They both turn their attention to a door right in front of them. Joel opens it and both men walk into the next room. But as soon as they entered the room, they find four elderly survivors occupying the room, startling them all with their abrupt presence. They both stood right where they were, not knowing what to do until they heard the sound of a weapon being cocked and focus on a fifth elderly survivor aiming his revolver at them while his hands were shaking.

Old man: "Who are you?"

Lee and Joel didn't think to reach for their own guns. Instead, they had slowly raised their hands at the armed man. They could tell he was scared, that any sudden moment would make him shoot their heads off. They try with a rational approach.

Joel: "Easy. No need to get all excited."

Lee: "We don't want any trouble."

Old man: "Neither do we, wh-which is why you'd both do well to leave us be."

Lee: "Listen, we didn't mean to startle you folks. We'll just be on our way."

Woman: "You can't let them leave. They're could be from Crawford or even with those Hunters. If any of them find out where we are, then…"

Old man: "Are you? Don't either of you lie to me, I'll know."

Woman: "What else could they be, Vernon? Everyone else out there is dead or worse."

Vernon: "I think one of you oughta start talking."

Joel was the first to step up and attempt to diffuse the situation. Being from the black market, this wouldn't be the first time he had been in moments like this.

Joel: "We ain't from around these parts. We just arrived in Savannah last night, all the way from Macon."

The tension on the old man's face slightly eased up as he listened to his words.

Vernon: "I have a brother in Macon. You were there?"

Joel: "Yes."

Vernon: "How was it? As bad as here?"

Joel had glanced at Lee, who had diverted his gazed with a frown, and then looked back at Vernon before he answered.

Joel: "…Yes."

Vernon: "Now I asked you another question earlier; who are you two?"

Joel: "My name's Joel. This here is Lee. We didn't know that this place was occupied, we're just trying to get by."

Woman: "Don't listen to them, Vernon. If you let them walk out of here alive-"

Vernon: "What do you want me to do, Brie? Shoot them in the head?"

Brie: "Why not? That'd be more of a mercy than Crawford and those hunters ever showed to the sick and the old like us. Think, Vernon. What do think they'll do if they find out we're all down here, right under their feet?"

Vernon: "Damn it, you're right. I'm sorry, but we just can't risk it."

Joel: "Don't. Just hear us out, alright? We're not from Crawford and we're not Hunters either, but we've seen what they're capable of. Up until now, we didn't just how bad things were in Savannah. We're nothing like them. And I can tell you're not either. You're only trying to keep these here people safe, yeah? All we want is to find our way outta here."

Vernon: "I wish I could believe you, but I just can't take that kind of chance."

Lee: "Wait. Just take it easy, okay? Let's- let's just talk about this."

Brie: "What the hell is there to talk about? Vernon, just shoot them!"

Lee: "No one needs to get shot."

Joel: "You don't have to do this. Just put it down."

They kept going back and forth trying to persuade Vernon and his finger was getting closer and closer to fully pulling the trigger. But then, just as he was about to get a shot off, the door opened once again, causing everyone to flinch and they all looked to see who else had just discovered the room. It turned out to be the old hobo, Chuck. No one said a word as he inspected the whole scenario and calmly asks,

Chuck: "Am I disrupting anything?"

Joel: "Chuck?!"

Lee: "My God. You're alive!"

Chuck: "So it would seem. Though, it may not stay that way for long."

He was referring to Vernon still aiming his gun at them. Just by looking at this third newcomer who had also abruptly entered their "home", he could tell that he would be over the age limit Crawford had set and the fact that he seemed to be acquainted with these two gentlemen gave him a reason to actually believe everything they were saying before when his hands stopped trembling and slowly lowered the weapon.

Vernon: "You're all really not from Savannah, are you?"

Joel: "No, we're not."

And with that, Vernon decides to believe them as he moves his finger away from the trigger and sets his gun down on the table next to him, much to his friend Brie's dismay.

Brie: "Vernon, what the hell are you doing?!"

Vernon: "It's all right, Brie. I know what I'm doing."

And with that, Brie and the other elderly residents eased up, trusting him that these men won't lay a finger on any of them or attempt to steal from them.

Vernon: "Anyways, we're from Crawford. Or, at least, we used to be. We got out of there when they started sealing the place up. You know, weeding out the sick and the old so nothing would threaten their perfect survivor society. No room for weakness or vulnerability in their little "master race"."

Chuck: "You folks don't look that old to me."

Vernon: "Well, thank you for that, uh, Chuck, was it?"

Chuck: "Yes, sir. You can even call me Charles, if you're fancy."

Lee: "Are you all sick?"

Vernon: "At one point, we were. We're all members of a cancer survival group that used to meet in the hospital. We're in remission. But that wasn't good enough for Crawford, and them Hunters prancing around the streets sure don't give two shits."

Joel: "I take it you've all tried to join up with them before then?"

The old man had frowned and looked away from Joel before he eventually nodded his head.

Vernon: "We thought they would be better than Crawford. But, that didn't turn out as well as we hoped. We couldn't deal with them and I'm pretty sure they had enough of us by the time we decided it'd be best to leave them, too. When we did, we took some of their medicine and food before they could notice, so I'm sure you can understand how they wouldn't be too thrilled to see us again. The streets were too dangerous for us to stay anymore, so we went to the only place we thought was safe in this city and came down here.

Joel: "Then those traps we ran into back there. You built them?"

Vernon: "We did. The sewer system was already filled with those things by the time we got there. It was pure luck that we managed to find this basement and make our keep here. We were worried that the Hunters and/or Crawford would come looking for us down here, so we set up traps and alarms to lure the dead straight to them and hopefully keep them from reaching here and chase them out. Although, seeing as how you've all managed to make it here, we might have to rethink our little strategy."

While he was talking, Lee was looking over the room they were in while listening to every word and folds his arms against his chest when he asks,

Lee: "So, this is a morgue then?"

Vernon: "Yeah. Irony's always high on list when looking for a place to survive. How did you all find your way down here?"

Joel: "Walkers. We were by the river looking for a boat until we both got cornered by them in an alley and had to haul ass down here to get away from them. Now, we're just trying to find our way back out."

Vernon: "Well, the sewer system y'all came through runs all over the city. It'll take you to wherever you wanna go."

Lee: "Those sewers are like a damn maze. I'm sorry to ask, but do you think maybe you can help us find our way back?"

Joel: "Lee, we don't need their help."

Chuck: "I dunno. It'd be nice to have a guide show us the way rather than blindly running through them like we've been doing."

Vernon: "Look, you all seem okay in my book and as much as I'd like to help, we've all got our own problems. Two of our group are ill and need constant care, and I'm the only doctor here."

Brie: "Besides, give us one good reason why we should help you."

Joel: "Look, we ain't asking for a handout or anything. We just want to get back to our own group. Back to Ellie and Clementine."

Vernon: "Are they your daughters?"

Joel: "No. Their real parents died before the outbreak. Lee and I are doing what we can for them."

Lee wanted to argue about how they don't even know for sure if Clem's parents really are dead or not, but he didn't have the energy to argue about that for now. Brie saw the look on the doctor's face and could tell what he was thinking.

Brie: "You're not seriously considering going with them."

Vernon: "Brie, it's okay. I had a daughter, too. Lost her in the first days this all happened. I for damn sure will not just stand by and let it happen to someone else when I know there's something I can do about it."

Brie: "But we need you here."

The doctor then walks over to the anxious woman and reassures her with a hand on her shoulder.

Vernon: "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to change his mind, she embraces him, praying that he will return soon safe and sound. He says goodbye to the other patients and then he reclaims his gun from the table he left it at.

Vernon: "Let's go."

They nod their heads, make their outside the room and back out through the hole they came through. Vernon places the sign back in its original position and asks where it is that they're group was staying at. Lee and Joel described the mansion they had found last night, along with the street it was located at and it had given the doctor a pretty good idea on where to go from here.

Vernon: "This way. We should be able to find a manhole that'll lead straight to your people down this direction."

Lee: "Right behind you. Lead the way."

Vernon was walking in front while Lee was following closely by him and as they were walking, Joel slows down a bit to walk beside Chuck.

Joel: "So, Chuck. How is it that _you_ were able to make it here?"

Chuck: "Well, after you all made it out from those streets, I kept fending off all them walkers the best I could. Right up until I heard more of those, uh, what was it you said them folks were called again?"

Vernon: "Hunters."

Chuck: "Right, Hunters. Anyway, so I spotted this manhole not too far from where we last seen each other. Saw an opportunity and I took it before the Hunters could notice. I spent the rest of the night wandering through these sewers, avoiding the walkers the best I could and even some of them traps laid around until I eventually wound up here. Although, I honestly wasn't expecting to see the two of you down here as well."

Joel: "Yeah, well, the feeling's mutual."

Their conversation had ended and no else had anything else to say during the walk. A few minutes later, Vernon breaks the silence to warn them.

Vernon: "Watch your step, now. We've set up more traps down this way, too."

They followed his movements to avoid setting any of them off.

Joel: "Must've taken y'all a long while to have all these traps set through these sewers."

Vernon: "Oh, it did. But, since it keeps everyone else out there from finding us in that basement, it makes all the time and effort worth it."

After navigating through all of the traps, they continued following the doctor until they came to a stop underneath another manhole and he turns to face them.

Vernon: "Alright, this manhole should lead right in the center of the intersection. So, the mansion your people are at oughta be very close from here."

Lee: "Finally. Come on, let's not keep them waiting any longer."

Lee was the first to begin ascending up the ladder, ready to breath in some fresh air again and be able to see the light of day, but also remains cautious about the Hunters that could be nearby. Once he reached the top, Lee pushes the manhole to the side, allowing the sunlight to temporarily blind him and climbs out after checking that the coast was clear and then Joel, Chuck and Vernon followed suit.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **A/N Once again, I am sorry for the delay.** **Over the past few months, I've been dealing with a lot more stress; my mother had stomach flu, tumor and nearly died. She's all better now but things have gone bad with my relationship between my sister and I. Been doing a lot to make amends with her and now things are okay between us. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and everyone has a great Thanksgiving week. Also, if you had the choice to answer the Stranger in the sewers or ignore him, what would you do?  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Lost and Found

**A/N With Lee and Joel now safely back at the manor, a search for Clementine and Ellie leads to an unexpected discovery.** **Be sure to let me know what you think of this crossover. I do not own The Walking Dead or The Last of Us.**

Chapter 5: Lost and Found

Lee had emerged from the manhole and notices the sky was now less cloudy, allowing the sun to shine more brightly than it has since they all first arrived into the city. The streets were clear of walkers and Hunters. Joel, Chuck and Vernon climbed up to the outside and the four men hustled over to the manor as quick as they could before anything were to catch them by surprise. Fortunately, they were able to make it to the backyard without any trouble. As they approach the back door, Chuck examined the place in awe. It was definitely a lot nicer than his old boxcar. Lee tried to open the door, but once again, it was locked. Not that he was surprised. Their group was taking precautions to keep themselves safe.

Lee: "Hello? Anyone? It's us. We're back."

They waited for another minute before they hear the door being unlocked and then it was opened by one of the scavengers they met back at the river, and he didn't have his black leather jacket on at the moment.

Joel: "Henry."

Henry: "Oh shit, you two actually made it out."

Chuck: "Who's this?"

Henry: "You guys forget to mention us? Tch, that figures. I'm Henry. Me, my brother Sam and Molly are the reason these two made it out of the alley in one piece. So, uh, who're the fossils?"

Vernon: "Fossils?!"

Chuck: "Anyone ever tell you to respect your elders, son?"

Henry smirked and raised his hands at them in mock surrender.

Lee: "Chuck here is a part of our group and this is Vernon. He helped us find our way back here after we got separated."

Henry: "Alright then, now that we're all introduced to each other, come on in. Don't want any assholes out there to notice us here."

He opens the door all the way and steps aside to allow the men into the kitchen.

Lee: "Clementine?"

Joel: "Ellie?"

There was no answer from them on the first floor. They would have to go look for them on the second floor.

Henry: "By the way, I found this hiding in the very back of one of the drawers over there. You guys mind if I hold onto this?"

In his hand was a meat cleaver. How they had missed that when they had searched the kitchen drawers last night was beyond them. Thinking it over for a quick moment, Joel answered,

Joel: "Nah, you can keep that. We got plenty of weapons of our own."

Henry: "Cool, thanks. Oh, and Lee? Not that its any of my business or anything, but I'm pretty sure someone else is gonna be particularly happy to see _you_ again."

As he walks into the dining room with the cleaver, Lee gave him a raised eyebrow, wondering what he meant by that. Then, he hears the sound of someone rushing down the steps and soon sees Carley appear in the main hall.

Carley: "Oh, my God."

The man smile when she came running towards him and soon they both embraced each other, holding onto one another tightly in their arms. Joel remained silent to let them have their moment.

Lee: "Hey, you."

Carley: "They told me what happened at the river. When they came back here without you, I though that something terrible had happened to you and- I didn't know if we were gonna see you again. I thought I was gonna have to-"

Lee: "Hey, it's okay. We're okay, Carley."

They pulled away and stared into each others' eyes, smiling and happy to be back in each others' company. Joel cleared his throat to snap them out of their revery, ending their somewhat intimate moment.

Carley: "Oh, sorry. It's great to have you back, too, Joel. And… Chuck?"

The hobo had just locked the door behind him and turns back at the reporter with a warm smile on his face.

Chuck: "Indeed. It sure is good to be back."

He then starts inspecting the manor that the crew had managed to find while Joel introduced Carley to their new acquaintance.

Joel: "And this is Vernon, he's a doctor."

Carley: "Really? So then, he can help with Omid, right? He's been getting worse since you guys left."

Vernon: "Is there something you left out that I should know?"

Lee: "Oh, yeah, um… We have a man wounded with us. His leg is in bad shape and we're doing all we can to keep it in check, but it might not be enough. Can you take a look at him for us?"

The old doctor considered this for a moment until he answered,

Vernon: "I wish y'all had mentioned this ahead of time, but I'll see what I can do. Can't promise anything though."

She nods at him and leads them upstairs to the bedroom Omid was in. Inside, they find him laying in the bed, taking deep breaths and his forehead was sweating. The poor guy was looking way worse than when they last saw him this morning. Christa was kneeling beside him with a tight grip on his hand, scared and worried for her boyfriend.

Carley: "Christa, Lee and Joel made it back. And they brought in someone with them."

She turns to face them and was surprised by the old gentleman in the room when she stands up.

Christa: "Who's this?"

Vernon: "My name's Vernon. I'm a doctor."

Christa: "Doctor?!"

Vernon: "That's right. May I take a look at him?"

Christa: "Yes! I- Thank you."

Vernon: "All right. Now, let's see how bad it is."

While the doctor begins to look over his patient, Lee takes a step closer to the shorter woman and asks,

Lee: "Carley, do you know where Clementine and Ellie are right now?"

Carley: "I know that they were with Henry's brother, Sam, in the study room. They might still be in there."

He nods and was about to leave the room with Joel, but then Carley stops them when she grabbed Lee's shoulder and was now looking guilty.

Carley: "Wait. Lee? Joel? I'm so sorry about them getting out. I don't know how they managed to slip outside without me or any of us noticing. I should've-"

Joel: "Stop. None of that is on you."

Lee: "He's right. What's done is done. What's important right now is that they're okay and they're safe. We're gonna go look for them."

She felt relieved, knowing that they weren't as infuriated with her as she anticipated them to be when she realized the little girls had snuck out. Once they were out of Omid's room, the two walk directly towards the study room and the first thing they see upon opening the doors was Henry's little brother sitting in the desk, looking through Clementine's drawings. Neither Clem or Ellie were anywhere to be seen.

Lee: "Sam?"

The young boy looked up when he heard his name being called and was surprised to see who was standing on the other side of the desk.

Sam: "Holy crap. You guys made it."

Lee: "We did. Whatcha doing there?"

Sam: "Sorry. I hope that you don't mind. The girls and I were talking earlier and Clementine let me look at these drawings that she made. She actually finished this one recently when we got here."

The boy hands it to Lee for them to look at, and it turned out to be a picture of when Lee and Joel were at the grave, burying the dead boy from the attic with the shovel drawn in Joel's hand. Looking closely at the details, Joel had an angry face drawn on him and Lee had a sad face.

Sam: "They're actually pretty cool. She's a good artist."

Lee: "Yeah, she is…"

Joel: "Do you know where they are?"

Sam: "I don't. They stepped out a while ago. Probably still somewhere in the house."

Joel: "Thanks for the tip."

They both leave the young teen to his business and continue their search for their girls. At this point, they were staring to get anxious. Since they got back, they have not seen or heard any sign of them anywhere around the manor. Were they actually here in the manor? They tried calling for them from underneath the door to the attic, but no response. The next place they look is the master bedroom after passing through the bathroom that leads to it. From there, they find Molly looking underneath the bed.

Joel: "Molly?"

The blond scavenger lifted her head and stood up when she saw the pair.

Molly: "Oh, hey. You made it back."

Joel: "What're you doin'?"

Molly: "Nothing. Just poking around is all."

Joel: "You're not gonna find anything. We've already searched this whole house top to bottom."

Molly: "You'd be surprised by what people miss. Trust me, Henry, Sam and I have been doing this for a while."

Lee: "Have you seen where Clementine and Ellie are?"

Molly: "Don't ask me, I'm not their keepers."

Lee: "Hey, do we look like we've got time to be jerked around right now?! Did you see them or not?"

Molly: "All right, Jesus. Last I saw, they were downstairs with your redneck friend and that college kid that hangs around with him. Why don't you guys go bug them?"

While she goes back to searching the room, the men walk out of the room with Joel slamming the door behind him. They head downstairs, stressing out about still not finding Clem or Ellie. Once they enter the living room, they find Kenny sitting on one of the couches, loading shells inside a shotgun. Ben was just sitting beside him watching and waiting for Kenny to tell him to do something. He stopped the loading the weapon when he notices who had just entered the room.

Kenny: "Lee. Joel. Y'all actually made it back. Though, I can't say I'm surprised, really. I had a feeling the two of ya would turn up sooner or later."

Joel: "Kenny, what're you doing?"

Kenny: "What does it look like?"

He resumes loading shells into the weapon and Lee crossed his arms when he answered Kenny's question.

Lee: "You look like you're getting ready for a war."

Kenny: "Might be…"

He sets the shotgun down on the table to pick up a bottle of whiskey he found from the dining table and places a rag on the top of the bottle. Joel and Lee continue to look at him with narrowed eyes.

Kenny: "What, you think you're the only one who knows how to make a Molotov cocktail, Joel? It ain't exactly rocket science."

Joel: "Just what the fuck do you think you're gonna do, Kenny? You just gonna go out there and shoot every Hunter and walker you see out there?"

Kenny: "So what if I am?"

Lee: "Getting suicidal isn't gonna do any good right now!"

Irritated, Kenny gets up from the couches and steps in front of the two men.

Kenny: "No? Then what is?! You heard what Molly and Henry said; there ain't no more boats left in Savannah. Not anymore. And the only surefire way left of leaving this city is through all them Hunters on that bridge while they're out there looking for us, not to mention that we've got walkers all around us and even that crazy fuck on the radio messing with us. So, if shooting my way through every single one of those sons o' bitches is what it takes to get us across that bridge, then Goddammit, that's what I'm gonna do!"

He sits back down and starts loading bullets in his rifle. Chuck comes in from the dining room, still looking around the fancy house.

Chuck: "Gotta say, this is quite the shelter y'all managed to secure. Sure is better than anything I've ever owned back in the day."

Joel was quickly losing his patience as he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. They've already been through both floors of the manor and there was still no sign of the two little girls. It's like they were being sent on a wild goose chase.

Joel: "Have any one of you seen Ellie and Clementine?"

Kenny: "Hell if I know."

The hobo didn't like what he heard when he turned to look at Kenny and walks up to him from behind.

Chuck: "They're not here?"

Kenny: "I ain't saying they aren't. I just haven't seen em in a while is all."

Lee: "Ben, I gave you one job before we left; keep an eye on the girls. Then they both show up in the middle of the street looking for us? What the hell happened?!"

Ben: "Hey, don't pin all that on me, okay? Omid took a turn for the worse and things just started getting hectic. Christa asked Carley and I to help her out and I told them to wait right here in the living room. What else could I do? I mean, It's not like I-"

He was interrupted mid-sentence by an impatient Joel when he had grabbed his letterman jacket and held him up close to his face. If looks could kill, the teen would be dead by the glare in Joel's eyes.

Joel: "Boy, I am not in the mood for any of your excuses right now. Do you know where they are, yes or no?"

Ben: "I… I-I think they went outside to play in the backyard."

Lee: "On their own? With all those Hunters out there?!"

Ben: "Man, will you guys just chill? They don't even know that we're here. Clem and Ellie are fine out there."

He was shoved back into his chair and nervously kept looking into the man's threatening eyes as Joel hissed,

Joel: "For your sake, you better hope to God that they are."

As they leave to head outside, Ben could feel his whole body trembling from what he just experienced. Knowing he was still keeping that little secret hidden from him and Kenny certainly didn't make him feel any better. The pair rushed right out of the back door and yelled out,

Lee: "CLEMENTINE!?"

Joel: "ELLIE!"

Neither of them cared if any Hunters or walkers heard them. They just wanted to find their little girls. They searched everywhere; they checked the bushes, the inside of the doghouse, even outside of the fence, but they were still nowhere to be found. Joel was about to head back inside and give that school boy a piece of his mind when he was stopped by a familiar voice coming from the shed that was covered in vines.

Ellie: "Joel?!"

They both turn to face the shed and see the doors being pushed on from the other side, unable to open.

Joel: "Ellie? Is that you?"

Ellie: "Joel! We're in here!"

Clementine: "Where's Lee? Is he there?!"

The two men glanced at each other and then rushed to the front of the shed.

Lee: "I'm here, sweet pea. We're right here."

Joel: "Hang on, we're gettin' the both of you out of there."

As fast as they could, they removed the vines from the doors until it was pushed open by the pair of little girls on the other side. For a moment, they stared into each others eyes, feeling happy and relieved knowing that they were all still very much alive and well. Clem ran up to Lee to embrace him while Ellie approached Joel and he placed his hands on her shoulders as she starts speaking quickly.

Ellie: "Joel, oh man. When you and Lee went in that manhole, we didn't know if you guys were gonna make it out of there and we came back here as soon as we could."

Joel: "Ellie-"

Ellie: "I mean, as soon as we got inside, Carley came in and was all "Where's Lee and Joel?" and Kenny told em you were both in the sewers and everyone was worried about you and-"

Joel: "Slow down, slow down. Hey. Are you two all right?"

Ellie: "Yeah, we're good."

Lee: "What we're y'all doing inside there?"

Clementine: "Come look. Look what we found."

Joel: "Why? What's in there?"

Ellie: "You wouldn't believe us if we told you."

With an arched eyebrow, they step up to the shed and open the doors to see what they have found. When they did, the two caretakers just stared at their discovery, completely astounded by what they have found while the girls smiled at their wide-eyed faces. Inside the shed was a boat. An actual full size motor boat. Was it their luck that allowed them to find it here? Was it their fate? None of that mattered. What really mattered was that they now have what they had set out to find since this morning, and it was right under their noses.

Joel: "Son of a bitch."

Lee: "This was in _here_ the entire time?"

Clementine: "I know, right?"

Ellie: "Told ya so."

Kenny stepped out of the house after hearing all the shouting, approached them from behind and was looking just as shocked as they were when he saw the boat. At first, he thought he was hallucinating, but then realized that this was real. The looked on his face slowly changed into a smile, feeling pure joy inside just by looking at what he had been searching for all along. He even dropped the rifle he still had in his hand and then stepped up to stand beside them with his hands on his hips. For the first time in a long time, things were actually looking up.

* * *

Most of the group was now gathered in the living room. Clementine and Ellie were upstairs with Sam. Kenny was looking over the boat with Joel and Ben assisting him. Lee was constantly pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, anxiously waiting on them to find out if the boat was fully seaworthy. Molly and Henry were hanging around by the boarded up window and Carley and Christa were sitting together on the sofa. Vernon eventually came downstairs after he was done treating Omid and was now standing beside the chair Chuck was sitting in.

Christa: "How's Omid? Is he gonna make it?"

Vernon: "I won't sugarcoat it. He's about as well as can be expected, given the circumstances. I did what I could for him, cleaned out the wound, but his leg's developed an infection and he's running a fever. Without antibiotics, there's really not much else I can do for him, I'm afraid."

She frowns, knowing that her worst fears were happening. They had no antibiotics left with them and unless they could somehow manage find some a bottle full of them, there wasn't much hope for her boyfriend.

Christa: "Thank you for trying, at least."

Vernon nods his head and Lee still kept pacing until Molly had enough.

Molly: "Will you quit pacing? You're making everyone nervous."

Carley: "Why are you guys even still here?"

Henry: "What? Suddenly we ain't welcomed here anymore?"

Molly: "Look, if your friend really can get that boat working, then you people are taking the three of us on board with you as payment for saving your asses back at that alley. Henry and I figure that's fair enough, don't you?"

Lee frowned and looks down on the floor. Joel did try to tell him back in the sewers that they would more likely want something in return for their help in the alley. Speaking of which, they hear him, Kenny and Ben come back inside after they had finished looking the boat over. When they joined everyone else in the living room, Joel walks over to stand in between the two couches while Kenny placed his hands on the furniture Carley and Christa were sitting on and Ben just stood behind him, looking as nervous as usual.

Lee: "Well? How's it looking?"

Joel: "You want to hear the good news or the bad news first?"

Lee: "I think we can all use some good news."

Kenny: "Good news is the boat's seaworthy enough. In pretty good shape and can get us out of Savannah, but…"

Carley: "But what?"

Joel: "That's the bad news. Gas tank's empty and the battery's dead. Unless we can fix both, that boat isn't going anywhere."

Christa: "That's not all we need. Omid needs antibiotics or he's not gonna make it. Where are we even supposed to look to get all that stuff?"

The whole room remained silent for a moment, trying to think. There really wasn't anywhere left in Savannah to look for supplies. Both the Hunters and Crawford made sure of that. Lee thought about what the scavengers had told them back at the river and turns to them.

Lee: "Molly, you and Henry mentioned those Hunters having camps. Any chance we can get what we need from them?"

Molly: "You can try, but there's no guarantee that you'll be able to find all that you need."

Chuck: "How do you figure?"

Henry: "Look, the Hunters have camps around the city and they keep their own supplies in each one. The problem with that is you never know what they're keeping in them until you get into them. Maybe you'll find a full tank of gas, half a bottle of pills, or maybe a handful of rations. It could take days before we even manage to salvage all that we need from them. And judging by how your friend upstairs is doing, we ain't got that kind of time to be doing that."

Lee: "So then, our best bet would be to get it all in one place."

Joel: "We could get em from Crawford. From what we've been hearing, it sounds like its the one place in Savannah that's guaranteed to have everything we need. We could even do it tonight."

Everyone in the living room find themselves agreeing with the former black market dealer's suggestion.

Chuck: "Hmm, you might be onto something there."

The doctor in the house on the other hand did not like the idea.

Vernon: "Now hold on a minute."

Christa: "Surely we have to try. What have we got to lose?"

Vernon: "Trust me, you don't know these people. I do. They're no better than any of them Hunters out there. You showing up with a wounded man? Might as well put a noose around his neck. They don't exactly welcome children, the elderly or even the sick with open arms either."

Carley: "Are you serious? Jesus, that's- What the hell kind of place are we talking about here?"

Molly: "The worst kind. But, I don't see what other choice we have."

Kenny: "What exactly is it between the Hunters and Crawford anyway? I mean, if they both follow the whole "survival of the fittest" shit, then it sounds like they would both go together like eggs and bacon."

Vernon: "It might seem that way at first, sure, but there is a difference. My people and I learned that the hard way. Crawford is very organized and are all about maintaining order with its every rule and decisions being made in a centralized manner. The Hunters on the other hand are in small independent groups. Imagine them like they're terrorist cells, and they have no interest in following any of the rules Crawford set. That's why they weren't seen fit to be allowed in there and don't set foot near their grounds."

Joel: "Now that you mention it, I've noticed that the Hunters aren't really that coordinated with each other."

Henry: "Good eye, old timer. That's the one thing that gives us all an advantage over them."

Kenny: "Okay, so if we're gonna raid this Crawford place, we'll need some kinda plan in order to get this done. I'm open to suggestions here."

Another moment of silence passed with everybody trying brainstorm a plan to raid Crawford until Lee spoke up.

Lee: "Maybe there's a way can sneak inside undetected and get what we need from there without too much trouble."

Henry: "That could work, but how exactly do we do that?"

Vernon: "Actually, I know the sewer system that runs throughout the city like the back of my hand. Any chance you folks have a map with you?"

Joel: "Yeah, we do."

The man from Texas steps toward the table where their weapons were laid around, moves the shotgun and pushed some ammo clips to the side to dig out the map they found from the locomotive and holds it up for the doctor to give it a quick look over.

Vernon: "Okay. With this, I think I can lead us directly underneath the perimeter through the tunnels. We'll come up from underneath them, take em by surprise, grab what we need and get out before they even knew what hit em."

Molly: "That's… actually not the worst idea I've ever heard. I mean, it's close, but, I don't know, maybe it can work."

Henry: "Oh, it'll work. It'll definitely work."

Vernon: "I've thought about doing this before, just never had enough people to do it. So, if we all work together on this, we may be able to pull this off."

Kenny: "That's great and all, but what exactly are you wanting in return for all this help you're giving us?"

Vernon: "Crawford doesn't just have what you need for your boat, they're also well stocked with medical supplies; medicine that my people could use, just as yours could."

Lee: "All right, so its decided then. We're going to Crawford. We can do this, I know it!"

Carley: "Hell yeah, we can."

Joel: "I'm in."

Kenny: "Me too."

Christa: "It's sure as hell risky, but if means that Omid will live to see another day, then it'll be worth it."

Henry: "Why not? If y'all are going, then I'm all in with you guys. How about you, Molly?"

Molly: "You bet your ass. I've been wanting to take a shot as these Crawford bastards for a while now."

The only one who has yet to answer was Ben, who had been silent this whole time. Carley noticed this, stands up from the couch and turns around to look at the nervous teenager.

Carley: "What about you, Ben?"

Ben: "I-I don't know. I mean, what if this all goes wrong?"

Kenny: "In case you haven't noticed, nothing's been going right ever since we've set foot in this city. But this time, we've finally got the one thing that's gonna set us home free and I'd much rather take the risk at doing something about it instead of sitting around waiting to die. What's it gonna be, kid? Are you in or out?"

He didn't answer him. Ben just looks down at the floor, keeping his mouth shut. Even with all the doubts flowing in his mind, he knew they were all ready and willing go through with this and he would follow along with them. Just then, Christa had abruptly rose up from the sofa.

Christa: "But wait, what about Omid?"

Kenny: "What about him?"

Christa: "If all of us are going, then he'll be left here all alone. What if something were to happen here while we're away and no one is there to watch over him?"

Kenny sighed and crossed his arms. Someone was gonna have to stay behind in the manor to keep watch over Omid. He thought about suggesting Ben to stay, thinking the boy would only slow them down. However, Chuck stands up from his seat and was the first to offer.

Chuck: "In that case, I volunteer to hold down the fort here while y'all are gone."

Joel: "You sure?"

Chuck: "Yep. As sure as I can be."

Joel: "If you say so."

Christa: "Thank you."

He nods at the woman with a genuine smile.

Vernon: "We should go tonight, under cover at dark. I'll go let my people know and give you some time to prepare. I'll be back before midnight."

Carley: "Be careful."'

Vernon: "That's how I'm still alive."

The doctor exits the house through the front door and once he was gone the rest of the crew start to make their preparations for the Crawford raid. Joel and Lee take this time to go upstairs and tell their girls everything they've decided on. Before they reached the stairs, Henry noticed where they were headed and approaches them.

Henry: "Hey, Joel. Lee. Can you do me a favor and let Sam know that Molly and I need to talk with him?"

They nod at him and walk up the steps. Upon reaching the second floor, they could hear Omid in his room, moaning in pain from the other side of the close door. They also hear the rare sound of laughter coming from the study room and find the kids apparently having a good time sitting together on the couch. They noticed Ellie had on the earphones of her walkman, her pun book placed beside her and Sam had a bunch of blueberries in his hand. The boy took one, tossed it in the air and catches it inside his mouth.

Clementine: "Wow."

Sam: "Pretty neat, ain't it?"

Clementine: "Yeah, it is."

Ellie: "C'mon, anyone can do that."

Sam: "Oh really? You think _you_ can do it?"

Ellie: "Hell yeah. Here, lemme try that."

She takes one of the blue berries, tosses it in the air and then it bumps off her nose, missing her mouth.

Ellie: "Ow."

Sam: "Ha, a blueberry hurt you?"

Ellie: "No."

Sam: "Then what'd you say 'ow' for?"

Ellie: "Shut up."

They all laughed for a moment before Clem asks,

Clementine: "Can I try it?"

Sam: "Yeah, go ahead."

She took a berry and tries the same trick, but the berry ends up landing in the middle of the room on the carpet, completely missing her mouth.

Clementine: "Oops."

Sam: "It's all right."

When the younger girls gets off the couch to retrieve the small piece of fruit, that was when she realizes Lee and Joel were watching them and also notices they had a grin on their faces.

Clementine: "Hi."

Lee: "Hey there. Having fun?"

Clementine: "Uh-huh."

Joel: "Hate to interrupt, but Sam, your brother and Molly wanna talk to you about something downstairs."

Sam: "Oh, okay."

Once he gets up from the couch, he pockets his berries and walks out of the room, leaving it just the four of them alone in the room to talk.

Ellie: "So, how'd it go? Can we use the boat?"

Joel: "Well… sort of."

Ellie: "What do you mean?"

Joel: "I mean that it needs some work before we can get it out in the water. It needs some fuel and a battery. Also, Omid is gonna need some medicine to deal with the infection he's got."

Clementine: "That's a bunch of stuff. Do we know where to find them?"

Lee: "That's just it, we all decided downstairs that we're gonna go to this Crawford place and get all the things that we need from there."

Ellie: "But, they're not just gonna let us take em, are they?"

Joel: "Probably not."

Clementine: "Is it gonna be dangerous?"

Joel arched an eyebrow, thinking that she would know the answer to that, and Lee continues to be honest with her.

Lee: "I won't lie to you, Clem. It's gonna be really dangerous. But it's the only way to get all that we need to make Omid better as soon as we can and get the boat working. That's why we have to do this. Do you understand?"

Clementine: "Yeah. It's just, I… I don't want anyone else to die."

Lee: "Neither do we, Clem, but sometimes, there's just no other way to do it and we have to take that kind of risk."

She nods her head in acknowledgment. Ellie places a hand on her shoulder after getting off the couch and taking her earphones off.

Ellie: "Well, come on, Clem. We should get ready."

Clementine: "Yeah."

Joel: "Wait, excuse me?"

Ellie: "We're gonna get ready to head out with you guys."

Joel: "Ellie, I- I don't think that would be the best idea."

Ellie: "What? You- you want to leave us here? Again?!"

He looked away from her, avoiding the question. But that was enough of an answer for her, and she strongly disapproved the very thought of it.

Ellie: "You know what? No! Okay? We are not staying behind here all alone! Fuck that!"

Joel: "We won't be leaving you alone. Chuck will be here, and where we're going, it's just too dangerous to bring y'all there with us."

Ellie: "What makes you think that leaving Clem and I here would be any safer? With those assholes out in the streets, its just as dangerous being in here. In case you forgot, we've been a big help plenty of times."

Lee: "Yeah, we know that y'all have. And we-"

Ellie: "Lee, I appreciate it, but I don't want to hear it from you this time, okay? I want to hear it from _him_."

Lee furrowed his eyebrows, surprised by the teen girl's words and glanced at Joel to see the hardened look on his face.

Ellie: "Clem and I have gotten us all out of trouble more than once. Like when we were trapped in that damn meat locker? She and I were the only ones who could fit inside that air duct and get the door open. And back at the train station, we were able to get that gate open so we can get the blowtorch."

Joel: "Ellie-"

Ellie: "Look, I know that we almost got bitten by that walker that was in there with us, but we didn't. We survived. We're not helpless. We know how to take care of ourselves. I mean, what the fuck was the point in showing us how to shoot if you're not even gonna give us a chance to use what we learned?"

He didn't answer. The silence between them right now was so tense, it could be cut with Ellie's knife. The room remained quiet for another moment before the teen girl asked one more time.

Ellie: "Joel, let Clementine and I come with you guys to Crawford. Please."

As much as Lee wanted to say something, Ellie made it clear that she didn't want him to interfere this time and looks at the man next to him worriedly. She wanted Joel to be the one to decide on this. This was his decision and his decision alone to make. He could allow their little girls to come along with them or leave them here in the manor. Thinking it over, Crawford sounded like a fortress that was armed to the teeth. Even though there was a good chance that their plan could work without a hitch, there was also the risk of them actually being caught in the middle of a gunfight, getting captured or even slaughtered. He really did not like the idea of them being in that kind of danger.

But he also knew she had a good point. While this manor is safe and secure, how long would it be before the Hunters discover them here and they weren't here to protect them from those hostile men, even with Chuck there with them? And in the condition Omid is in, if they were to not make it back in time, he could turn into a walker and attack them when they least except it. They would still very much be in danger. Aside from that, they truly never would've been able to escape the St. Johns or get through the underpass without their help. Hell, even Clementine was able to get them inside the manor when they first found it. Chuck's words replayed in his mind again. After what seemed like an eternity, Joel closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and tells them his decision.

Joel: "…All right."

Ellie: "What?"

Joel: "All right. You and Clementine can come."

Ellie: "Are you serious?"

Joel: "Yes. But, you both have to promise that you will stay close and do _everything_ that we tell you to the entire time. We clear?"

Ellie: "Sure. What you say goes."

Joel: "Clementine?"

Clementine: "Yeah, I promise."

Joel: "…Okay then."

And with that, Ellie actually formed a little smile on her face when their conversation ended. She and Clem went over to their packs they left beside the desk and look through the supplies they had with them. Their caretakers walk out of the room to leave them to their business and shut the doors behind them.

Chuck: "Glad to see my words hadn't fallen upon deaf ears."

They turned around to find the hobo leaning against the wall with his arms folded against his chest.

Joel: "You heard all that?"

Chuck: "Yes I did."

Not having the energy for another discussion, Joel had turned away from him, folds his arms against his chest and sighs. Chuck moved away from the wall to stand right next to them.

Chuck: "Listen, I get that it ain't easy for you and I'm not trying to encourage you to put them in harms way or anything. You've been showing them how to figure things out for themselves, but now you gotta trust in them being able to know what to do in emergencies and stressful situations, and that they'll be able to take care of one another, even if y'all are not there to do it for them. Bringing em along to a place like Crawford? That seems like a pretty good way to express that trust in them."

He still didn't show any acknowledgment, but Chuck knew that he was listening. The old man takes out a 9mm pistol from inside his coat and holds it out in front of them.

Chuck: "Here. I managed to snag this from the Hunter that was in the boxcar with me when we arrived. If I had another, I'd give it to ya so you can pass em on to them. Reckon they'll be needing them."

Joel looked at the handgun in his dirty fingerless-gloved hand. Although he knew he was right, he only stared at it and was hesitant to take it. Lee was the one to accept it.

Lee: "I'll take it."

He takes the weapon from Chuck's hand and places it in the back of his waistband for now.

Chuck: "You got an extra gun that Ellie can have?"

Joel: "Yeah."

Chuck: "Good. Make sure they get em before y'all head out for Crawford tonight."

He opens the door into Omid's room, looks back at them over his shoulder with a grin, nods his head in approval and closes the door behind him. Lee goes off to head back downstairs, leaving Joel by himself. He walks to the window in the hallway and leans his arm next to it while staring outside, thinking over what just happened. He had just given Ellie and Clementine his permission to join them on the raid to Crawford, the most dangerous part of the city. Was that really right for him to say that? Would they really be capable enough to protect them from all the hostile people they would encounter there? There was no time to be second guessing himself now. He had already made his choice. No turning back now.

* * *

The crew was now gathered around in the backyard as it was five minutes till midnight. Carley loaded a full ammo clip into her gun, pulled the slide back, and glances to her left when she hears the scavengers talking amongst themselves. Henry had his black leather jacket back on while he, Sam and Molly were reading the map. Ben was standing idly by and trying not to be nosy on their conversation while he was also in deep thought about the little secret he was hiding. Christa finished counting how many bullets she had on her and stashes her own handgun in her waistband. Lee, Joel, Clementine and Ellie had just stepped outside, Chuck closes the door, locks it and Kenny sets down a toolbox in the shed before he joins everyone outside with his rifle strapped on.

Kenny: "Hey, y'all. Come take a look at what I found. Hatchet, hacksaw, hammer and plenty of other tools we can use. Might come in handy for this little break-in."

Ben: "Awesome."

While everyone motioned over to see what tools were available, Kenny picked up the shotgun he left laying on the side of the shed, walks over to Joel and leads him away from the crew to the middle of the yard.

Kenny: "Joel, I need to talk with you for a moment."

The toolbox was actually a way for him to occupy the others for a bit so he and Joel can chat privately. Ellie watched them go and wondered what it could be that he only wanted to say to him without including the others.

Joel: "What is it?"

Kenny: "I took another look at the boat, and just realized that she's a 30-footer."

Joel: "Yeah, and?"

Kenny: "And we're gonna have a capacity problem. A boat that size can't hold anymore than five people, and that includes kids, Joel."

Taking a quick glance behind him, he did a head count with everyone currently in their crew. Himself, Ellie, Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Carley, Christa, Omid, Chuck, Ben, and even Molly, Henry and Sam. That's a total of thirteen survivors in their crew.

Joel: "We obviously have more than five people with us. So, what do you reckon we do?"

Kenny: "Assuming that everyone makes it back alive, there's gonna be a few people too many, even if we cut Molly and them boys loose. Before this is over, we're gonna have to make a decision."

Joel: "You really think anyone is gonna want to be left behind in this goddamned city?"

Kenny: "Look, I'm just saying. It's something that we're gonna have to think about by the time we get the boat running. So, until we do, how about you and I just keep that bit of information to ourselves, yeah?"

He hands the shotgun over to Joel, who takes it while thinking about how it wasn't gonna be an easy conversation to have with everyone when the time comes and he straps it on to his backpack, alongside with his machete.

Joel: "Yeah."

Ben approached them and holds out a hatchet for Kenny to take. He raised an eyebrow at him, but still accepts it, just in case. Molly pulls her hood over her head while Henry gave the map back to Carley. Just then, they hear the gate creak open and see Vernon walking into the backyard, but there was also someone else with him. She was someone that Joel recognized from when he and Lee first met the cancer patients in the morgue.

Kenny: "Hey, who the hell is she? You didn't mention anything about inviting a friend over."

Vernon: "This is Brie, she can help us."

Joel: "Help how exactly?"

Brie: "I was a student at the school where Crawford keeps their supplies. I know the layout."

Vernon: "With her help, we'll be in and out faster. Anyone got a problem with that?"

Nobody answered him. If what Brie said was true, then that was good enough for them.

Lee: "Doesn't look like it."

Molly: "Then what're we waiting for? Let's do this."

Lee: "Hold up just a sec."

Lee and Joel approach Clementine and Ellie to do what Chuck had asked them to do. Lee goes first as he bends down to Clem's level.

Lee: "There's one last thing we gotta do before we head out. It's something both of you are gonna need."

Clementine: "Okay. What is it?"

The man reaches for the gun he got from the hobo and holds it in front of the youngest member of the crew.

Lee: "Here, take this. Do you remember how to use this? It's exactly like we showed you."

Clementine: "Yeah, I do."

Lee: "Good."

Clem takes her new weapon and tucked it away in her hoodie pocket. And now it was Joel's turn to arm Ellie. He had dug inside his pack for a quick moment and took out a pistol of his own. Ellie might not recognize it, but this was the very pistol that Marlene had used to shoot herself with after she was bitten on the day they first met. He had been keeping it inside his pack all this time. And now, he was passing it on to Ellie. After loading a full ammo clip inside the weapon, he holds it out for her to take it, but then he slightly moves it away before she could.

Joel: "It's for emergencies only. And when that happens, you make every shot count. Yeah?"

Ellie: "I got it."

He allows her to take the gun and takes a quick moment to look at it before she places it in the back of her waistband.

Lee: "Okay, y'all set?"

Clementine: "Yup."

Ellie: "We're ready."

Vernon: "Wait, hold on. You're not bringing _them_ with us. Did you not listen to what I said about what they do to children? If you bring them in there and they find them-"

Lee: "This isn't up for debate, Vernon. These little girls aren't just excess baggage. They've gotten us out of a tight spot more than once."

Henry: "My little brother's is coming along, too. If _you_ got a problem with that, then let's hear it."

The old doctor looked away from the leer Henry was giving him. He could tell that they had already made up their minds and he wasn't gonna be able to talk them out of bringing the kids with them.

Lee: "They're coming. Deal with it."

Joel: "C'mon, let's go get this done and over with."

And so, the survivors finally leave the backyard to find the nearest manhole, leaving Chuck and Omid all by themselves in the manor and head out for Crawford to acquire the gasoline, battery and antibiotics. Either this plan of theirs will work and they will be able to leave there with all they need and no casualties, or Crawford will be the last thing they ever see tonight.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **A/N** **I really should've had this next chapter up some time ago, but as usual, life just keeps getting in the way of my writing. My Granddaddy died not too long ago, my family and I couldn't even afford to go out of state to the funeral, and one of my dogs got impaled by a piece of wood and needed minor surgery to remove it. I've also been struggling to get a job, but that hasn't been going well for me either. Yet, despite all of that, I am determined to keep writing and I really hope that you all enjoyed this chapter.  
**


End file.
